Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (5 Viewers)

[jdoggydogg]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

Then looks are deceiving. This is a impressive film, very difficult to watch at times because the content was so powerful and well presented.I think a guy like you (from what I have read) will appreciate Precious.

Thank you. I will add it to my queue.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

really?got a ton of recognition during the major awards shows.

So did Forrest Gump and Titanic. Hey, I could be dead wrong. It's very possible that Precious isn't a heavy-handed, sophomoric melodrama. Just saying that the little I've seen doesn't do much to dissuade me from that characterization.

true, but it killed at the IFC awards and I don't associate those with big budget garbage like the two movies you mentioned.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Road

Very faithful adaptation of the book that transferred well to the big screen. They did inject a little bit of optimism to several parts, but that doesn't change the fact that it's the most bleak, depressive, film made in years. The atmosphere and setting was great, just like I imagined it reading the book. The film could not possibly been cast better. Not only do Viggo and the child actor nail their roles and make it easy to focus on them for the entire film, but the supporting character roles are fantastic. Duvall, Pearce, Michael K. Williams, and Garret Dillahunt all fit their parts to the T. I also liked that they chose to cut out some of the stuff with the boat towards the end, that part always left me a little confused in the novel. I will always prefer the novel version just because of the nature of the story and would most definitely read that again before watching the film. But as far as adaptations go, this captured exactly what it tried to.

4/5

I am so torn about this movie. On one hand, it's probably my favorite novel of all time. On the other hand, I am very leery of re-experiencing this story on screen.

 

[jdoggydogg]

This would normally be right up my alley but in discussing the book here on the board, someone said that it was tough to read if you have a young son. Having a 16 month old son, that's made me shy away from the book and the movie. I had trouble with District 9 because of the father/son thing. I'm not sure I could handle this.

I am glad you posted this. I have a seven year old, and reading The Road was very intense for me. I will say that despite the story's dark tone, I think this book is the most inspiring thing I've ever read. To me, the father's love and protection of his son in this story is what we all aspire to. The father's devotion is the very essence of the ideal parental archetype. To use an old cliche, there are two types of people that read the final chapters of The Road: the type that cries and the type that lies.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

really?got a ton of recognition during the major awards shows.

So did Forrest Gump and Titanic. Hey, I could be dead wrong. It's very possible that Precious isn't a heavy-handed, sophomoric melodrama. Just saying that the little I've seen doesn't do much to dissuade me from that characterization.

true, but it killed at the IFC awards and I don't associate those with big budget garbage like the two movies you mentioned.

You and others have said good things about the movie and that's enough for me to give it a shot.

 

[Radical Larry]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

really?got a ton of recognition during the major awards shows.

So did Forrest Gump and Titanic. Hey, I could be dead wrong. It's very possible that Precious isn't a heavy-handed, sophomoric melodrama. Just saying that the little I've seen doesn't do much to dissuade me from that characterization.

It isn't.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

really?got a ton of recognition during the major awards shows.

So did Forrest Gump and Titanic. Hey, I could be dead wrong. It's very possible that Precious isn't a heavy-handed, sophomoric melodrama. Just saying that the little I've seen doesn't do much to dissuade me from that characterization.

It isn't.

I'm in. I have too few good movies in the queue to not give this one a chance.

 

[Radical Larry]

Note: I honestly didn't enjoy this movie. It's not that it was too heavy-handed or poorly made...I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Note: I honestly didn't enjoy this movie. It's not that it was too heavy-handed or poorly made...I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

This is how I felt about Slumdog Millionaire. I knew there was a torture scene. And while I totally through with that cliche, I was still willing to give it a chance. But just as the boy fell out of the outhouse into a pool of ####, I'd had enough. I say this as a big time Danny Boyle fan, but once I saw that scene, I said out loud, "#### you, Danny Boyle." I really resent it when a movie hits me over the head with its message.

 

[Chaka]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

really?got a ton of recognition during the major awards shows.

So did Forrest Gump and Titanic. Hey, I could be dead wrong. It's very possible that Precious isn't a heavy-handed, sophomoric melodrama. Just saying that the little I've seen doesn't do much to dissuade me from that characterization.

Precious isn't The Blind Side. Hope I was not off on my assessment of your movie tastes. Enjoy.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Precious was interesting and good, but seemed like it might have been a bit overrated during awards season.

This movie looks awful.

really?got a ton of recognition during the major awards shows.

So did Forrest Gump and Titanic. Hey, I could be dead wrong. It's very possible that Precious isn't a heavy-handed, sophomoric melodrama. Just saying that the little I've seen doesn't do much to dissuade me from that characterization.

Precious isn't The Blind Side. Hope I was not off on my assessment of your movie tastes. Enjoy.

Thanks. I am swiftly running out of modern films to watch, so I happily added it to the queue.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Note: I honestly didn't enjoy this movie. It's not that it was too heavy-handed or poorly made...I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

This is how I felt about Slumdog Millionaire. I knew there was a torture scene. And while I totally through with that cliche, I was still willing to give it a chance. But just as the boy fell out of the outhouse into a pool of ####, I'd had enough. I say this as a big time Danny Boyle fan, but once I saw that scene, I said out loud, "#### you, Danny Boyle." I really resent it when a movie hits me over the head with its message.

I thought that scene was hilarious

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Road

Very faithful adaptation of the book that transferred well to the big screen. They did inject a little bit of optimism to several parts, but that doesn't change the fact that it's the most bleak, depressive, film made in years. The atmosphere and setting was great, just like I imagined it reading the book. The film could not possibly been cast better. Not only do Viggo and the child actor nail their roles and make it easy to focus on them for the entire film, but the supporting character roles are fantastic. Duvall, Pearce, Michael K. Williams, and Garret Dillahunt all fit their parts to the T. I also liked that they chose to cut out some of the stuff with the boat towards the end, that part always left me a little confused in the novel. I will always prefer the novel version just because of the nature of the story and would most definitely read that again before watching the film. But as far as adaptations go, this captured exactly what it tried to.

4/5

I am the opposite - I really didn't like the movie at all. After reading the book a second time (I hated it the first time), I ended up getting over the writing style and really liking the book. I think there was too much added just for time and dramatic effect that really took away from the simple beauty of the story and the book. Can't put my finger on it, but several of the lines seemed forced by Viggo, and I was surprised after watching a little of the 'making of' feature to hear that he had a son. To me it felt like not much was there between them. The beginning of the movie had a few scenes that to me went against a lot of what the character stood for in the book, such as:

-- talking to the kid about suicide and going as far as putting the gun in his mouth and showing him. Seemed like in the book he was battling whether he could kill his son or not, but seems against the character to show him that.

-- In general, I hated that he took out the gun and held it to his child's head a couple times in the movie.

-- Seems like he was sleeping more and doing it in bad spots - ie by water, etc. where they couldn't hear people if they were coming. The dad in the movie seemed to lack some of the protective skills as he displayed in the book.

-- Just thought there was too much with the wife and found it distracting.



*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();All in all, I didn't think the movie did a great job with the book, although that wouldn't be an easy task. I wouldn't suggest it to people who read and loved the book.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

I don't like to badmouth people's recommendations in here that I give a shot to and don't enjoy. So let me just say that I am officially done with any movie having anything to do with Lars von Trier. I was pretty leery after Anti-christ, but gave The Kingdom a shot, based on someone's recommendation in here, and the fact that it sounded Twin Peaks-ish. I lasted about 20 minutes. Maybe I'm wrong, and it gets better, but after hearing the one doctor ##### for 20 minutes about the other doctor doing a CT scan without his approval, I was altogether disinterested. There was one moment with two kids with Down Syndrome talking about a girl making herself known to the old woman getting the scan that was kinda weird and creepy, but the rest of what I saw was just uninteresting. This one is not going to replace LOST for me in the watching department.

 

[hooter311]

Edge of Darkness

I was expecting standard revenge fare, ended up getting a film that was trying way too hard to be something epic. Government/Corporate conspiracy, Nuclear Test facilities, government "cleaners". Features some of the most graphic scenes of brutal violence I've seen in an action movie, which earns points in my book. I'm all about a great revenge thriller, but this one never really got my blood going like A Man Apart or Man on Fire did. I missed some good ole snarky Mel Gibson. Last two scenes were completely ridiculous and unnecessary.

3/5

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

 

[saintfool]

Note: I honestly didn't enjoy this movie. It's not that it was too heavy-handed or poorly made...I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

This is how I felt about Slumdog Millionaire. I knew there was a torture scene. And while I totally through with that cliche, I was still willing to give it a chance. But just as the boy fell out of the outhouse into a pool of ####, I'd had enough. I say this as a big time Danny Boyle fan, but once I saw that scene, I said out loud, "#### you, Danny Boyle." I really resent it when a movie hits me over the head with its message.

that is the frustrating paradox that is boyle though. for every "trainspotting" and "28 days later" he does "a life less ordinary" and "slumdog". he's immensely talented and versatile as a director but just wants to make crowd-pleasers.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

this movie is awesome

 

[Chaka]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

this movie is awesome

I'm sure they smell April fresh.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Road

Very faithful adaptation of the book that transferred well to the big screen. They did inject a little bit of optimism to several parts, but that doesn't change the fact that it's the most bleak, depressive, film made in years. The atmosphere and setting was great, just like I imagined it reading the book. The film could not possibly been cast better. Not only do Viggo and the child actor nail their roles and make it easy to focus on them for the entire film, but the supporting character roles are fantastic. Duvall, Pearce, Michael K. Williams, and Garret Dillahunt all fit their parts to the T. I also liked that they chose to cut out some of the stuff with the boat towards the end, that part always left me a little confused in the novel. I will always prefer the novel version just because of the nature of the story and would most definitely read that again before watching the film. But as far as adaptations go, this captured exactly what it tried to.

4/5

I am so torn about this movie. On one hand, it's probably my favorite novel of all time. On the other hand, I am very leery of re-experiencing this story on screen.

Just saw the movie. I thought they did a decent job of translating the book to the big screen, but...

It just wasn't as good. It's the perfect example of where a book is better than a film. There are just emotions and things that you get more deeply in the book. Also, many times things are better left to the imagination.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

I dig. Seems like it'd be hard to convey all that emotion on screen.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Note: I honestly didn't enjoy this movie. It's not that it was too heavy-handed or poorly made...I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

This is how I felt about Slumdog Millionaire. I knew there was a torture scene. And while I totally through with that cliche, I was still willing to give it a chance. But just as the boy fell out of the outhouse into a pool of ####, I'd had enough. I say this as a big time Danny Boyle fan, but once I saw that scene, I said out loud, "#### you, Danny Boyle." I really resent it when a movie hits me over the head with its message.

that is the frustrating paradox that is boyle though. for every "trainspotting" and "28 days later" he does "a life less ordinary" and "slumdog". he's immensely talented and versatile as a director but just wants to make crowd-pleasers.

Definitely. I love Trainspotting and 28 Days. But even with a movie like Sunshine - which I loved - there are flaws in that movie that should have been changed at the script level.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sorcerer

My journey through the classic films of the 70s starts with a bumpy ride. This started out fine. Interesting, mysterious, well-crafted. But by this middle of the film, you realize that you don't care about any of these people. So what's at stake?

Kubrick critics sometimes called the director's technique "cold" or "aloof." But with Kubrick, he often featured stories and characters that were fascinating. Here, Friedkin has characters that are not rich and a story that is just weak. Very disappointing.

The description from Netflix:

William Friedkin (The Exorcist) directs this tale based on the French suspense film The Wages of Fear. Four men (Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Amidou and Francisco Rabal), each from a different country, are exiled to a South American town. The four are approached by an American company to transport the volatile substance nitroglycerin over perilous terrain for a healthy wage and a promise of legal citizenship. Will the men accept the challenge?

 

[saintfool]

Sorcerer

My journey through the classic films of the 70s starts with a bumpy ride. This started out fine. Interesting, mysterious, well-crafted. But by this middle of the film, you realize that you don't care about any of these people. So what's at stake?

Kubrick critics sometimes called the director's technique "cold" or "aloof." But with Kubrick, he often featured stories and characters that were fascinating. Here, Friedkin has characters that are not rich and a story that is just weak. Very disappointing.

The description from Netflix:

William Friedkin (The Exorcist) directs this tale based on the French suspense film The Wages of Fear. Four men (Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Amidou and Francisco Rabal), each from a different country, are exiled to a South American town. The four are approached by an American company to transport the volatile substance nitroglycerin over perilous terrain for a healthy wage and a promise of legal citizenship. Will the men accept the challenge?

i saw this a few years ago and liked it. it's not perfect by any means but still. it's very much of the period. in a way, "sorcerer" shares more its contemporaries - herzog and FFC - than "wages of fear" somehow re-imagined.

 

[Chaka]

Note: I honestly didn't enjoy this movie. It's not that it was too heavy-handed or poorly made...I just found myself waiting for it to be over.

This is how I felt about Slumdog Millionaire. I knew there was a torture scene. And while I totally through with that cliche, I was still willing to give it a chance. But just as the boy fell out of the outhouse into a pool of ####, I'd had enough. I say this as a big time Danny Boyle fan, but once I saw that scene, I said out loud, "#### you, Danny Boyle." I really resent it when a movie hits me over the head with its message.

that is the frustrating paradox that is boyle though. for every "trainspotting" and "28 days later" he does "a life less ordinary" and "slumdog". he's immensely talented and versatile as a director but just wants to make crowd-pleasers.

Definitely. I love Trainspotting and 28 Days. But even with a movie like Sunshine - which I loved - there are flaws in that movie that should have been changed at the script level.

Sunshine took a very disappointing turn during act III. Was a really good movie up to that point then it became just another Hollywood film.

 

[saintfool]

Sunshine took a very disappointing turn during act III. Was a really good movie up to that point then it became just another Hollywood film.

it has more in common with boyle's film version of "the beach" than his other work, i think. like that film, it has potential but loses its way somehow.

 

[hooter311]

Sunshine took a very disappointing turn during act III. Was a really good movie up to that point then it became just another Hollywood film.

it has more in common with boyle's film version of "the beach" than his other work, i think. like that film, it has potential but loses its way somehow.

Seems like this topic comes up every 6 months or so, maybe it's been longer. I'm a huge Boyle fanboy and have thoroughly enjoyed, if not loved, everything he has directed so far. Sunshine and The Beach would both be on my top 10 favorites list from their respected decade. They both have their flaws, neither would make a top 10 "best" list, but I love both of them for exactly what they are.and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years. Have Gladiator and Braveheart been the only films to win the Oscar in the last 20 years that weren't released in either November or December? Those are the only two that come to mind, but I'm admittedly too lazy to research them all.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sorcerer

My journey through the classic films of the 70s starts with a bumpy ride. This started out fine. Interesting, mysterious, well-crafted. But by this middle of the film, you realize that you don't care about any of these people. So what's at stake?

Kubrick critics sometimes called the director's technique "cold" or "aloof." But with Kubrick, he often featured stories and characters that were fascinating. Here, Friedkin has characters that are not rich and a story that is just weak. Very disappointing.

The description from Netflix:

William Friedkin (The Exorcist) directs this tale based on the French suspense film The Wages of Fear. Four men (Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Amidou and Francisco Rabal), each from a different country, are exiled to a South American town. The four are approached by an American company to transport the volatile substance nitroglycerin over perilous terrain for a healthy wage and a promise of legal citizenship. Will the men accept the challenge?

i saw this a few years ago and liked it. it's not perfect by any means but still. it's very much of the period. in a way, "sorcerer" shares more its contemporaries - herzog and FFC - than "wages of fear" somehow re-imagined.

I'm not saying the movie is bad. Far from it. But even a movie with criminals needs good character development. I didn't know much about any of these guys so I didn't care what happened to them.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Sunshine took a very disappointing turn during act III. Was a really good movie up to that point then it became just another Hollywood film.

Bingo. That was a huge mistake by Boyle.

 

[jdoggydogg]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

 

[saintfool]

I'm not saying the movie is bad. Far from it. But even a movie with criminals needs good character development. I didn't know much about any of these guys so I didn't care what happened to them.

that is where "sorcerer" diverges from "wages", i think. friedkin seems to be focusing on the journey itself. clouzot makes "wages" all about the characters. this works reasonably well in similar films - "apocalypse now", "aguirre", etc - because they use voice-over narration.

 

[hooter311]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

I've only seen those. Dark Knight was an action movie that really didn't need a 2nd villain and the extra 30 minutes of screen time. Extremely entertaining. Not a fan of Wall-E. Frost/Nixon was very well done, but I really didn't understand everything I was watching until I watched a documentary later. I'm admittedly unfamiliar with everything Nixon.The other four you listed could have very well have been better, but I can't comment on what I haven't seen. I really enjoyed Slumdog, I absolutely can't stand the use of bathroom humor, but I was able to tolerate the little boy. It was heavy handed to say the least. It seemed the Boyle took aspects of several highly regarded older films and then blended it together with the India setting, it worked for me, I'm not surprised it didn't work for others.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I'm not saying the movie is bad. Far from it. But even a movie with criminals needs good character development. I didn't know much about any of these guys so I didn't care what happened to them.

that is where "sorcerer" diverges from "wages", i think. friedkin seems to be focusing on the journey itself. clouzot makes "wages" all about the characters. this works reasonably well in similar films - "apocalypse now", "aguirre", etc - because they use voice-over narration.

The difference being that Apocalypse Now is riveting and one of my favorite films.

 

[jdoggydogg]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

I've only seen those. Dark Knight was an action movie that really didn't need a 2nd villain and the extra 30 minutes of screen time. Extremely entertaining. Not a fan of Wall-E. Frost/Nixon was very well done, but I really didn't understand everything I was watching until I watched a documentary later. I'm admittedly unfamiliar with everything Nixon.The other four you listed could have very well have been better, but I can't comment on what I haven't seen. I really enjoyed Slumdog, I absolutely can't stand the use of bathroom humor, but I was able to tolerate the little boy. It was heavy handed to say the least. It seemed the Boyle took aspects of several highly regarded older films and then blended it together with the India setting, it worked for me, I'm not surprised it didn't work for others.

Did you see Crash? Not the sweet, James Spader nudity-filled David Cronenberg mind-#### where weirdos get off by crashing cars together. The Crash about racism. Remember that one? All I remember from Crash was two hours of, "Racism is bad!!! Admit it!!!" Well, Slumdog was not so subtle, either. I know how bad conditions are in India. I've watched documentaries about India, and I am tons of empathy for the poor people in that country. But Danny Boyle isn't content to assume that people have a clue how bad it is. He's going to drive a six inch red hot poison nail in our heads with the words "Isn't this awful?" etched into the side of the nail. Sorry, I require a bit more nuance than that.

 

[hooter311]

Did you see Crash? Not the sweet, James Spader nudity-filled David Cronenberg mind-#### where weirdos get off by crashing cars together. The Crash about racism. Remember that one? All I remember from Crash was two hours of, "Racism is bad!!! Admit it!!!"

lol. Yes, I've seen both and agree 100% on all counts.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

LOL, this film is one of my guilty pleasure movies. HUGE fan. My wife is obsessed with NCIS (because of Mark Harmon) but she's never seen Summer School! Criminal!!!

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Did you see Crash? Not the sweet, James Spader nudity-filled David Cronenberg mind-#### where weirdos get off by crashing cars together. The Crash about racism. Remember that one? All I remember from Crash was two hours of, "Racism is bad!!! Admit it!!!" Well, Slumdog was not so subtle, either. I know how bad conditions are in India. I've watched documentaries about India, and I am tons of empathy for the poor people in that country. But Danny Boyle isn't content to assume that people have a clue how bad it is. He's going to drive a six inch red hot poison nail in our heads with the words "Isn't this awful?" etched into the side of the nail. Sorry, I require a bit more nuance than that.

Crash made me laugh out loud a few times ("Who is it who took these diverse cultures and got them all to park their cars on their lawns?"), but it was frustrating to watch for exactly the reason you articulate. And I shared your reaction to Slumdog, except with one additional source of annoyance: way too many people walked out of the theater thinking "whew, now I've seen what 3rd world poverty is like, I'm an aware person, that makes me good." It should have disturbed people, but instead for some bizarre reason it allowed them to feel better about themselves. It just wasn't a good movie.

 

[hooter311]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

LOL, this film is one of my guilty pleasure movies. HUGE fan. My wife is obsessed with NCIS (because of Mark Harmon) but she's never seen Summer School! Criminal!!!

Nothing guilty about it, this is Breakfast Club for kewl kids, and it lasts all summer!

 

[Kenny Powers]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

LOL, this film is one of my guilty pleasure movies. HUGE fan. My wife is obsessed with NCIS (because of Mark Harmon) but she's never seen Summer School! Criminal!!!

I always wondered how this show lasted more than a season

 

[Kenny Powers]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

I've only seen those. Dark Knight was an action movie that really didn't need a 2nd villain and the extra 30 minutes of screen time. Extremely entertaining. Not a fan of Wall-E. Frost/Nixon was very well done, but I really didn't understand everything I was watching until I watched a documentary later. I'm admittedly unfamiliar with everything Nixon.The other four you listed could have very well have been better, but I can't comment on what I haven't seen. I really enjoyed Slumdog, I absolutely can't stand the use of bathroom humor, but I was able to tolerate the little boy. It was heavy handed to say the least. It seemed the Boyle took aspects of several highly regarded older films and then blended it together with the India setting, it worked for me, I'm not surprised it didn't work for others.

What?!? The guy who owns Freddy Got Fingered doesnt like bathroom humor?

 

[hooter311]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

I've only seen those. Dark Knight was an action movie that really didn't need a 2nd villain and the extra 30 minutes of screen time. Extremely entertaining. Not a fan of Wall-E. Frost/Nixon was very well done, but I really didn't understand everything I was watching until I watched a documentary later. I'm admittedly unfamiliar with everything Nixon.The other four you listed could have very well have been better, but I can't comment on what I haven't seen. I really enjoyed Slumdog, I absolutely can't stand the use of bathroom humor, but I was able to tolerate the little boy. It was heavy handed to say the least. It seemed the Boyle took aspects of several highly regarded older films and then blended it together with the India setting, it worked for me, I'm not surprised it didn't work for others.

What?!? The guy who owns Freddy Got Fingered doesnt like bathroom humor?

Very rare exception. I fast forward the parts involving horses and elephants.

Daddy would you like some sausage?

ETA: Maybe it's just crap jokes that really bother me. Completely ruined Zach and Miri for me.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Did you see Crash? Not the sweet, James Spader nudity-filled David Cronenberg mind-#### where weirdos get off by crashing cars together. The Crash about racism. Remember that one? All I remember from Crash was two hours of, "Racism is bad!!! Admit it!!!" Well, Slumdog was not so subtle, either. I know how bad conditions are in India. I've watched documentaries about India, and I am tons of empathy for the poor people in that country. But Danny Boyle isn't content to assume that people have a clue how bad it is. He's going to drive a six inch red hot poison nail in our heads with the words "Isn't this awful?" etched into the side of the nail. Sorry, I require a bit more nuance than that.

Crash made me laugh out loud a few times ("Who is it who took these diverse cultures and got them all to park their cars on their lawns?"), but it was frustrating to watch for exactly the reason you articulate. And I shared your reaction to Slumdog, except with one additional source of annoyance: way too many people walked out of the theater thinking "whew, now I've seen what 3rd world poverty is like, I'm an aware person, that makes me good." It should have disturbed people, but instead for some bizarre reason it allowed them to feel better about themselves. It just wasn't a good movie.

I enjoyed the bright, politically aware carjackers. That was a good bit.As for Slumdog, to put a nice spin on it, maybe it made people really appreciate how good their lives are in comparison.

 

[D_House]

Finally saw The Warriors. Fun flick, reminded me of Escape from New York.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

LOL, this film is one of my guilty pleasure movies. HUGE fan. My wife is obsessed with NCIS (because of Mark Harmon) but she's never seen Summer School! Criminal!!!

I always wondered how this show lasted more than a season

I'm "fortunate" to get to see almost every episode. The best part of the show is the character Tony, mainly because he makes constant movie references. (example: while on a particular stakeout, my first thought was "huh, this is just like the movie Stakeout with Richard Dreyfuss." 30 seconds later Tony says "Just like in Stakeout. 1989 film. Richard Dreyfuss. Emilio Estevez. Madeline Stowe." Followed by my wife saying "huh, never heard of it." )

 

[hooter311]

Finally saw The Warriors. Fun flick, reminded me of Escape from New York.

Be sure to check out Streets of Fire and the Wanderers. You haven't lived till you've seen a good sledge hammer fight.

 

[El Floppo]

Finally saw The Warriors. Fun flick, reminded me of Escape from New York.

yes

 

[El Floppo]

Summer School

Had to see this immediately after it crushed one of my 80s favorites, Teen Wolf, in a recent FFA pole. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely was worthy of the win. Chainsaw reminded me quite a bit of teenage Hooter. Just all kinds of awesome here if you haven't seen it before and get off on 80's cheese.

4/5

LOL, this film is one of my guilty pleasure movies. HUGE fan. My wife is obsessed with NCIS (because of Mark Harmon) but she's never seen Summer School! Criminal!!!

Nothing guilty about it, this is Breakfast Club for kewl kids, and it lasts all summer!

I went to highschool with Courtney Thorne Smith. She was purty. (and also a genuinely decent, stand-up person... but :drool: )

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Finally saw The Warriors. Fun flick, reminded me of Escape from New York.

Be sure to check out Streets of Fire and the Wanderers. You haven't lived till you've seen a good sledge hammer fight.

The Wanderers is one of my all-time favorites.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

2008 was an incredibly good year for movies!I agree with your recommendations above, except for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which was terrible.

I'd also add from that year: Frozen River and In Bruges.

I think Slumdog deserved the win.

 

[kevzilla]

Just saw The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassas. It's not that weird to watch other stars doing parts of Heath Ledger's role, mainly because the movie's overall weirdness dwarfs it. It's important in a Terry Gilliam film to just let go and allow it to sort of wash over you.

 

[cosjobs]

and Slumdog was worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar. Manipulated to appeal to a greater audience, but it seems that's the way "awards" type films with have been for at least the last 10 years.

I preferred Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight.

2008 was an incredibly good year for movies!I agree with your recommendations above, except for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which was terrible.

I'd also add from that year: Frozen River and In Bruges.

I think Slumdog deserved the win.

That's a great pair of movies. I seem to remember FR not getting much love here, but I thought it was great. In Bruges was much more accepted, but still short of the acknowledgement it deserved.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

The Road

Eh. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic movies and this one is about as bleak as I can imagine, so in that way it was effective. The cannibals were scary too.

But "looking serious" doesn't necessarily mean conveying dispair and I just didn't feel it like I thought I would.