Ritas Bond post reminded me that we havent had a what have you watched recently thread, so, after a recent illness allowed me to catch up on a number of films, I figured that I would throw this out:
Theatrical releases:
The Lives of Others
You can certainly see why the academy chose this as Best Foreign Language Film, as it pushes all of the right buttons for the older voters. Overall, its a very good movie, but its no Pans Labyrinth by any stretch of the imagination. At the conclusion, the movie received an ovation from a local multiplex audience, you dont see that very often.
Zodiac
It plays very much like a combination of All the Presidents Men and The Conversation, albeit not quite to their level. Add-in some nice movie poster references and you have a winner.
The Host
Basically, this is a grade B-monster movie version of Little Miss Sunshine and I really got into it. Funny at times and more clever than anything Hollywood has put out quite a long time. Its what the last Godzilla remake should have been.
Music & Lyrics
A funnier-than-expected date movie, which isn't saying much. The flick overcomes many of the standard rom-com failings on simple Hugh Grant charm alone. A good rental.
300
Its like watching someone else play a video game - mildly interesting at first, but not really all that entertaining. Visually impressive, but with zero plot development or interesting characters, repetitive violence to the nth degree and horribly cheesy dialogue (ALL OF IT DELIVERED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME), 300 is ultimately an utterly empty movie. Great looking poop is still poop, and this is a steaming pile.
DVD releases:
Stranger than Fiction
I am shocked how much I liked this movie. Adaptation/Eternal Sunshine-lite this may be, but I thought that it just clicked. Will Ferrell and the rest of the cast were excellent.
Borat
Boring. I laughed a good bit when I first saw this in the theatre, but it doesnt hold up as well upon second viewing. That leaves just the extras, which help prove that the original 90 min was enough. The character just gets old fast.
The Departed
Fun every time, but still nothing that exceptional. Damon and DiCaprio do a great job, but I somehow expected more from a Scorsese picture featuring Jack Nicholson.
Casino Royale
Fun, but it does suffer a bit on the small screen by comparison. The gambling scenes still stick out as beyond cheesy, but that's just some nitpicking.
Babel
I loved the directors previous movie 21 Grams, but this came off as pretentious, unnecessarily manipulative and, worst of all, just plain dull. Too bad he wasted good performances by Brad Pitt and Rinko Kikuchi as a deaf-mute Japanese girl. The Golden Globes voters are idiots.
The Prestige
The Illusionist
While I enjoyed the interesting setups and solid performances by some of my favorite actors, I felt that both flicks suffered from the same failing their reveals, or prestiges, were, for me, quite obvious far too early in the proceedings. I enjoyed watching everything play out, but the complete lack of surprise left me rather ambivalent overall. Maybe I have seen too many movies...
Anyone else seen anything good, bad or ugly?
Theatrical releases:
The Lives of Others
You can certainly see why the academy chose this as Best Foreign Language Film, as it pushes all of the right buttons for the older voters. Overall, its a very good movie, but its no Pans Labyrinth by any stretch of the imagination. At the conclusion, the movie received an ovation from a local multiplex audience, you dont see that very often.
Zodiac
It plays very much like a combination of All the Presidents Men and The Conversation, albeit not quite to their level. Add-in some nice movie poster references and you have a winner.
The Host
Basically, this is a grade B-monster movie version of Little Miss Sunshine and I really got into it. Funny at times and more clever than anything Hollywood has put out quite a long time. Its what the last Godzilla remake should have been.
Music & Lyrics
A funnier-than-expected date movie, which isn't saying much. The flick overcomes many of the standard rom-com failings on simple Hugh Grant charm alone. A good rental.
300
Its like watching someone else play a video game - mildly interesting at first, but not really all that entertaining. Visually impressive, but with zero plot development or interesting characters, repetitive violence to the nth degree and horribly cheesy dialogue (ALL OF IT DELIVERED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME), 300 is ultimately an utterly empty movie. Great looking poop is still poop, and this is a steaming pile.
DVD releases:
Stranger than Fiction
I am shocked how much I liked this movie. Adaptation/Eternal Sunshine-lite this may be, but I thought that it just clicked. Will Ferrell and the rest of the cast were excellent.
Borat
Boring. I laughed a good bit when I first saw this in the theatre, but it doesnt hold up as well upon second viewing. That leaves just the extras, which help prove that the original 90 min was enough. The character just gets old fast.
The Departed
Fun every time, but still nothing that exceptional. Damon and DiCaprio do a great job, but I somehow expected more from a Scorsese picture featuring Jack Nicholson.
Casino Royale
Fun, but it does suffer a bit on the small screen by comparison. The gambling scenes still stick out as beyond cheesy, but that's just some nitpicking.
Babel
I loved the directors previous movie 21 Grams, but this came off as pretentious, unnecessarily manipulative and, worst of all, just plain dull. Too bad he wasted good performances by Brad Pitt and Rinko Kikuchi as a deaf-mute Japanese girl. The Golden Globes voters are idiots.
The Prestige
The Illusionist
While I enjoyed the interesting setups and solid performances by some of my favorite actors, I felt that both flicks suffered from the same failing their reveals, or prestiges, were, for me, quite obvious far too early in the proceedings. I enjoyed watching everything play out, but the complete lack of surprise left me rather ambivalent overall. Maybe I have seen too many movies...
Anyone else seen anything good, bad or ugly?
