Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (4 Viewers)

[Kenny Powers]

Kick-###: Very enjoyable movie. To my surprise, Nic Cage does not ruin it... gotta be a first sometime. Fun movie throughout. Having an 11 year old girl as a murdering people was a little odd but I guess it needed to be done. 4/5

Cage has plenty of ####ty movies, but he has a lot of pretty good ones as well. I never understand why people make a comment similar to that as often as they do.

Look at his work since Adaptation and you tell me. It's like he stopped acting and decided just to personify himself on the screen.

Why look at his movies since Adaptation when he's got about a dozen good movies before that??? Using those constraints he has had more bad movies than good ones since Adaptation, but I still thought Matchstick Men, National Treasure 1, Lord of War, The Weather Man, and Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans were all pretty good - and apparently Im not alone since all have at least a 6.8/10 on IMDB. And most of those other movies he didnt ruin, theyre simply bad movies.

 

[Bojang0301]

Kick-###: Very enjoyable movie. To my surprise, Nic Cage does not ruin it... gotta be a first sometime. Fun movie throughout. Having an 11 year old girl as a murdering people was a little odd but I guess it needed to be done. 4/5

Cage has plenty of ####ty movies, but he has a lot of pretty good ones as well. I never understand why people make a comment similar to that as often as they do.

Look at his work since Adaptation and you tell me. It's like he stopped acting and decided just to personify himself on the screen.

Why look at his movies since Adaptation when he's got about a dozen good movies before that??? Using those constraints he has had more bad movies than good ones since Adaptation, but I still thought Matchstick Men, National Treasure 1, Lord of War, The Weather Man, and Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans were all pretty good - and apparently Im not alone since all have at least a 6.8/10 on IMDB. And most of those other movies he didnt ruin, theyre simply bad movies.

I wasn't really trying to argue that he ruined movies. I don't like his choices as an actor but he also needs to pay for private islands so I understand why he does it. Some understand that there can be a legacy in their work (DDL) others buy islands and private jets (Travolta, Cage). Also he sucks when he is Nic Cage being Nic Cage on screen.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Kick-###: Very enjoyable movie. To my surprise, Nic Cage does not ruin it... gotta be a first sometime. Fun movie throughout. Having an 11 year old girl as a murdering people was a little odd but I guess it needed to be done. 4/5

Cage has plenty of ####ty movies, but he has a lot of pretty good ones as well. I never understand why people make a comment similar to that as often as they do.

Look at his work since Adaptation and you tell me. It's like he stopped acting and decided just to personify himself on the screen.

Why look at his movies since Adaptation when he's got about a dozen good movies before that??? Using those constraints he has had more bad movies than good ones since Adaptation, but I still thought Matchstick Men, National Treasure 1, Lord of War, The Weather Man, and Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans were all pretty good - and apparently Im not alone since all have at least a 6.8/10 on IMDB. And most of those other movies he didnt ruin, theyre simply bad movies.

I liked The Weather Man. Let's face it: Cage is not a top-tier actor. This has as much to do with his character choices as it does with his moderate talent. But even if Cage was following Daniel Day Lewis' recipe for being choosy about his movies, he'd still probably be the scenery-chewing guy he's always been. I like watching Cage in movies - after all, he's entertaining. But manic energy is not a substitute for talent.

 

[jamny]

After some recents recs in this thread we rented The Mist. Not bad, it was a little slow moving at times, I thought the lead actor was not very good and the ending, as it happened, was predictable but overall it was a fun creepy action flick. I probably never would have watched it if it wasn't for this thread. 2.5/5

 

[krista4]

I know there are fans here, so I thought I'd remind the masses that Atom Egoyan's newest comes out on DVD next Tues. I'll have to make sure I get a DVD in the mail on Saturday so I can get this. The movie is titled Chloe - did anybody happen to catch it in the theater?

 

[krista4]

Finally caught Frozen River on the Netflix stream a few days ago. Nice little flick. I got engrossed in the tension of the last half hour or so. I was a regular viewer of "Homicide: Life on the Street" back in the day, so I was happy to see Melissa Leo on screen again. She was fantastic.

I haven't seen this movie, but Melissa Leo is awesome. Her character on Homicide is one of the best casting decisions in the history of TV. The casting on that show was brilliant. For the first time ever, here was a show where the cops actually looked like cops.

GBjdd, I'm disappointed you haven't seen this one.

 

[krista4]

I loved Billy's sycophants - "There's a potential Donkey Kong kill screen coming up." It was great when he was ignored by everyone.

I have this on a T-shirt.

So do I. :X

 

[krista4]

I loved Billy's sycophants - "There's a potential Donkey Kong kill screen coming up." It was great when he was ignored by everyone.

I have this on a T-shirt.

This one?

Yeah, that's it........but I got a better color scheme than that yellow shirt. It's a blue ringer T. Most of the time nobody knows what it means, but every once in a while, somebody will come up out of nowhere and want to have their picture taken with me.

I have the green ringer.

 

[krista4]

Pan's Labyrinth

I've been meaning to see this for years. But since the wife and I usually watch movies together, she's been too scared to see it. Wow. What a stunning accomplishment. I loved it. My only beef was the extreme violence. I don't think the graphic gore contributed to the story. Still, what a fantastic movie. The antagonist is certainly one of the most evil in movie history, and I think the lead child actor was excellent. I could go on and on, but you've all heard the accolades before. Huge thumbs up.

Watching this movie, I couldn't help but think of some of the trash that has won best picture Oscars over the last few years. Crash, Chicago, Million Dollar Baby, Titanic, The English Patient, Forrest Gump, Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man...these movies aren't even in the same universe as Pan's Labyrinth.

Other than The English Patient, to this post.And I much prefer Pan's to The Orphanage.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Finally caught Frozen River on the Netflix stream a few days ago. Nice little flick. I got engrossed in the tension of the last half hour or so. I was a regular viewer of "Homicide: Life on the Street" back in the day, so I was happy to see Melissa Leo on screen again. She was fantastic.

I haven't seen this movie, but Melissa Leo is awesome. Her character on Homicide is one of the best casting decisions in the history of TV. The casting on that show was brilliant. For the first time ever, here was a show where the cops actually looked like cops.

GBjdd, I'm disappointed you haven't seen this one.

Bumped to the top of my queue.I sure do hope I've lived up to your expectations

 

[jdoggydogg]

Pan's Labyrinth

I've been meaning to see this for years. But since the wife and I usually watch movies together, she's been too scared to see it. Wow. What a stunning accomplishment. I loved it. My only beef was the extreme violence. I don't think the graphic gore contributed to the story. Still, what a fantastic movie. The antagonist is certainly one of the most evil in movie history, and I think the lead child actor was excellent. I could go on and on, but you've all heard the accolades before. Huge thumbs up.

Watching this movie, I couldn't help but think of some of the trash that has won best picture Oscars over the last few years. Crash, Chicago, Million Dollar Baby, Titanic, The English Patient, Forrest Gump, Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man...these movies aren't even in the same universe as Pan's Labyrinth.

Other than The English Patient, to this post.And I much prefer Pan's to The Orphanage.

I'm surprised you liked The English Patient. You know, sex in a tub. That doesn't work!

 

[krista4]

Catching up on some from last year:

A Single Man: This movie had me within five minutes. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut and was practically ready to deem it one of the best movies I'd ever seen, until it meandered into an awkward scene with Julianne Moore (who was terrific) near the middle and got a little worn with the super-close-up camera work after a while. Still, the cinematography is outstanding (only later did I find out the movie was directed by Tom Ford, which made sense), and Colin Firth gives one of the best performances I've ever seen--right now I'm putting it in my top ten. As much as I rant on here against voice-overs, I equally love scenes that can tell a whole story without a word being spoken, and there are several in this movie that are just astounding. And some of the subtleties in the storytelling were terrific--notice, for instance, a seemingly inconsequential note at the beginning of the movie that the color red means "lust", and at the end of the movie the object of the protagonist's lust is filmed with a red glow over him. So despite the few flaws above, I still have to give this 4.5/5. One of my favorite movies in a long time.

An Education: On the other hand...wow, this one really didn't do it for me. Was so excited about seeing it since I love both Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina. Molina was terrific, but Sarsgaard was nothing but creepy--no subtlety or nuance to his performance. And despite a fantastic job by the lead actress, I couldn't get past the fact that she looked 30 and was playing a 16-year-old (turns out she's 25). More than any of that, though, I just couldn't see any point to this movie at all. Yeah, yeah, I get the premise, that by foregoing one kind of education, she got a different, maybe more valuable kind. But so what? The whole thing seemed pointless, silly, and almost exploitative. I give this one an extra point only for great acting by Molina and whoever the actress was. 2/5

 

[wikkidpissah]

Pan's Labyrinth

I've been meaning to see this for years. But since the wife and I usually watch movies together, she's been too scared to see it. Wow. What a stunning accomplishment. I loved it. My only beef was the extreme violence. I don't think the graphic gore contributed to the story. Still, what a fantastic movie. The antagonist is certainly one of the most evil in movie history, and I think the lead child actor was excellent. I could go on and on, but you've all heard the accolades before. Huge thumbs up.

Watching this movie, I couldn't help but think of some of the trash that has won best picture Oscars over the last few years. Crash, Chicago, Million Dollar Baby, Titanic, The English Patient, Forrest Gump, Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man...these movies aren't even in the same universe as Pan's Labyrinth.

Other than The English Patient, to this post.And I much prefer Pan's to The Orphanage.

I'm surprised you liked The English Patient. You know, sex in a tub. That doesn't work!

That's why they had to have an actress as thin as Hyphenia Smythe-Pretense (or whatever her name was).And, actually there's a flick i saw at a Macedonian film festival - έκπληξη του Αρχιμήδη (loosely translated: Archimedes' Surprise) - with a bathtub sex scene that was quite realistic. I'm pretty sure the bobbing surface tension of the water was a metaphor for something.

 

[Chaka]

Catching up on some from last year:

A Single Man: This movie had me within five minutes. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut and was practically ready to deem it one of the best movies I'd ever seen, until it meandered into an awkward scene with Julianne Moore (who was terrific) near the middle and got a little worn with the super-close-up camera work after a while. Still, the cinematography is outstanding (only later did I find out the movie was directed by Tom Ford, which made sense), and Colin Firth gives one of the best performances I've ever seen--right now I'm putting it in my top ten. As much as I rant on here against voice-overs, I equally love scenes that can tell a whole story without a word being spoken, and there are several in this movie that are just astounding. And some of the subtleties in the storytelling were terrific--notice, for instance, a seemingly inconsequential note at the beginning of the movie that the color red means "lust", and at the end of the movie the object of the protagonist's lust is filmed with a red glow over him. So despite the few flaws above, I still have to give this 4.5/5. One of my favorite movies in a long time.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I agree that the cinematography is outstanding and Firth delivers a very solid performance. However I found that the characters, aside from Moore, didn't speak to me on anything but a superficial level. I just didn't really find myself emotionally invested in Firth, Hoult or Goode. And while I am also impressed when meaning can be conveyed without dialogue, after the 3rd or 4th scene of Firth staring off into the distance for two minutes the impact kind of wore off. I also did not enjoy the voice over because I felt that it came out of nowhere and really only spoke the obvious. Excellent point about using the color red at the end of the film, that point hadn't occurred to me.

Seriously if you haven't seen this don't open this spoiler unless you want the movie ruined for you.

Ultimately however the only part of the movie that really held me was the question "Is he or isn't he going to kill himself." And when we finally answer that question he instantly keels over and dies. What exactly was that supposed to be about? Was Ford trying to be ironic? The fact that he burned the letters almost immediately prior to dying IMO rendered the voice over completely unnecessary. It made me feel like Ford, after giving the audience the benefit of the doubt for most of the movie, thought his audience needed to have their hand held for the completely obvious point of "And just like that it came." No kidding Tommy.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();I really wanted to enjoy this movie, and I think it is worth seeing but something just missed for me. Perhaps I will need to digest it a little more and watch it again next year.

 

[krista4]

Catching up on some from last year:

A Single Man: This movie had me within five minutes. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut and was practically ready to deem it one of the best movies I'd ever seen, until it meandered into an awkward scene with Julianne Moore (who was terrific) near the middle and got a little worn with the super-close-up camera work after a while. Still, the cinematography is outstanding (only later did I find out the movie was directed by Tom Ford, which made sense), and Colin Firth gives one of the best performances I've ever seen--right now I'm putting it in my top ten. As much as I rant on here against voice-overs, I equally love scenes that can tell a whole story without a word being spoken, and there are several in this movie that are just astounding. And some of the subtleties in the storytelling were terrific--notice, for instance, a seemingly inconsequential note at the beginning of the movie that the color red means "lust", and at the end of the movie the object of the protagonist's lust is filmed with a red glow over him. So despite the few flaws above, I still have to give this 4.5/5. One of my favorite movies in a long time.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I agree that the cinematography is outstanding and Firth delivers a very solid performance. However I found that the characters, aside from Moore, didn't speak to me on anything but a superficial level. I just didn't really find myself emotionally invested in Firth, Hoult or Goode. And while I am also impressed when meaning can be conveyed without dialogue, after the 3rd or 4th scene of Firth staring off into the distance for two minutes the impact kind of wore off. I also did not enjoy the voice over because I felt that it came out of nowhere and really only spoke the obvious. Excellent point about using the color red at the end of the film, that point hadn't occurred to me.

Seriously if you haven't seen this don't open this spoiler unless you want the movie ruined for you.

Ultimately however the only part of the movie that really held me was the question "Is he or isn't he going to kill himself." And when we finally answer that question he instantly keels over and dies. What exactly was that supposed to be about? Was Ford trying to be ironic? The fact that he burned the letters almost immediately prior to dying IMO rendered the voice over completely unnecessary. It made me feel like Ford, after giving the audience the benefit of the doubt for most of the movie, thought his audience needed to have their hand held for the completely obvious point of "And just like that it came." No kidding Tommy.

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

I really wanted to enjoy this movie, and I think it is worth seeing but something just missed for me. Perhaps I will need to digest it a little more and watch it again next year.

I connected with the Firth character enormously from the very beginning, maybe because of the raw emotion and harrowing nature of the beginning of the movie. I was also really taken with the moments when he would lighten up and almost seem natural, while we knew that almost everything he lived to the outside world was a lie. The point where the young guy says that they are "invisible" was telling in this regard. Also, I didn't really see scenes as "just" him staring into the distance, ever. I was completely fascinated by watching a wide range of emotions come and go in his face in each of the silent periods, which is why I found his performance so astonishing.As to the ending:

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Ed WoodLeon (The Professional)The Shawshank RedemptionPulp FictionThe RefThe Last SeductionQuiz ShowCrumbClerksBullets Over BroadwayOnce Were Warriors

The only movies deserving to win over Gump here are Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Maybe The Professional, but I wouldnt. Speaking of Timeless with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Forrest Gump will be a timeless movie without a doubt.

I thought Ed Wood, Quiz Show and Clerks (in addition to Shawshank and PF) were far better films than Gump. My laziness prevents it, but I'd wager that there another 3-5 movies from that year which were far better than Gump. It simply wasn't Oscar-worthy. Not a bad film, but nowhere close to the best that year.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

You brought up My Left Foot and that's an excellent example because I love that movie. I don't hate Rain Man. I just think it doesn't hold up very well.

Christy wasn't mentally handicapped so I wasn't sure it counted. Pretty much anything DDL does is alright in my book.Rain Man may not hold up as a whole project but most of it does and Hoffman's performance was timeless.

Speaking of Hoffman, I really want to see Lenny.

Oooooooooo me too.Gotta remember to put that in my queue.

I heart Lenny Bruce, so this movie would have to be pretty bad for me not to like it.

If you go into the movie with the right mindset, it's a very good flick. You have to look at the film -- and more importantly the material -- in the context of the times. In other words, you have to place yourself in the mindset that the past 40 years of moral decay never really happened.I've only seen the film once but would definitely be willing to see it again.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Catching up on some from last year:

A Single Man: This movie had me within five minutes. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut and was practically ready to deem it one of the best movies I'd ever seen, until it meandered into an awkward scene with Julianne Moore (who was terrific) near the middle and got a little worn with the super-close-up camera work after a while. Still, the cinematography is outstanding (only later did I find out the movie was directed by Tom Ford, which made sense), and Colin Firth gives one of the best performances I've ever seen--right now I'm putting it in my top ten. As much as I rant on here against voice-overs, I equally love scenes that can tell a whole story without a word being spoken, and there are several in this movie that are just astounding. And some of the subtleties in the storytelling were terrific--notice, for instance, a seemingly inconsequential note at the beginning of the movie that the color red means "lust", and at the end of the movie the object of the protagonist's lust is filmed with a red glow over him. So despite the few flaws above, I still have to give this 4.5/5. One of my favorite movies in a long time.

Wow. I am getting it this week, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll read your review carefully once I see it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Pan's Labyrinth

I've been meaning to see this for years. But since the wife and I usually watch movies together, she's been too scared to see it. Wow. What a stunning accomplishment. I loved it. My only beef was the extreme violence. I don't think the graphic gore contributed to the story. Still, what a fantastic movie. The antagonist is certainly one of the most evil in movie history, and I think the lead child actor was excellent. I could go on and on, but you've all heard the accolades before. Huge thumbs up.

Watching this movie, I couldn't help but think of some of the trash that has won best picture Oscars over the last few years. Crash, Chicago, Million Dollar Baby, Titanic, The English Patient, Forrest Gump, Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man...these movies aren't even in the same universe as Pan's Labyrinth.

Other than The English Patient, to this post.And I much prefer Pan's to The Orphanage.

I'm surprised you liked The English Patient. You know, sex in a tub. That doesn't work!

That's why they had to have an actress as thin as Hyphenia Smythe-Pretense (or whatever her name was).And, actually there's a flick i saw at a Macedonian film festival - έκπληξη του Αρχιμήδη (loosely translated: Archimedes' Surprise) - with a bathtub sex scene that was quite realistic. I'm pretty sure the bobbing surface tension of the water was a metaphor for something.

Cool. Macedonian Film Festival? Who are you, Brad Pitt?

 

[jdoggydogg]

Ed WoodLeon (The Professional)The Shawshank RedemptionPulp FictionThe RefThe Last SeductionQuiz ShowCrumbClerksBullets Over BroadwayOnce Were Warriors

The only movies deserving to win over Gump here are Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Maybe The Professional, but I wouldnt. Speaking of Timeless with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Forrest Gump will be a timeless movie without a doubt.

I thought Ed Wood, Quiz Show and Clerks (in addition to Shawshank and PF) were far better films than Gump. My laziness prevents it, but I'd wager that there another 3-5 movies from that year which were far better than Gump. It simply wasn't Oscar-worthy. Not a bad film, but nowhere close to the best that year.

I enjoyed Gump. I just can't take it seriously as a best picture nominee.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I heart Lenny Bruce, so this movie would have to be pretty bad for me not to like it.

If you go into the movie with the right mindset, it's a very good flick. You have to look at the film -- and more importantly the material -- in the context of the times. In other words, you have to place yourself in the mindset that the past 40 years of moral decay never really happened.

I've only seen the film once but would definitely be willing to see it again.

Elaborate.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:

Watched this last night and I am still digesting it. Despite it's flaws, I would say that it's one of the better movies I've seen recently (which might not be saying much considering the dreck I've been wading through). I didn't read the books, but was surprised at a couple of scenes and the level of brutality throughout the movie. I would've liked a little more back story on the main characters - especially Lisbeth, but since the books were written as a triology, maybe that is coming. I've heard the other movies aren't nearly as good, so I might skip those and just read the books. Also, it looks like an Americanized version is coming out in a couple of years (of course)

For those who don't know - the story is about a journalist and a hacker teaming up to solve a 40 year old murder in a family that seems to be the Swedish version of the Kennedys. Good suspense, and I liked the way it was shot, but I didn't buy into the relationship between Lisbeth and the journalist. Still would recommend people checking it out.

As you can imagine, there is a great deal more of the backstory on Lisbeth, Blomkvist and others (just speaking about the first book, not the sequels). There is alot more on the Millennium (Blomkvist's magazine) and the security company Lisbeth works for. The book is also much more brutal and sexually explicit / sexually violent. The most violent scenes in the movie stop well short of what is described in the book.

 

[Radical Larry]

Ed Wood

Leon (The Professional)

The Shawshank Redemption

Pulp Fiction

The Ref

The Last Seduction

Quiz Show

Crumb

Clerks

Bullets Over Broadway

Once Were Warriors

The only movies deserving to win over Gump here are Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Maybe The Professional, but I wouldnt. Speaking of Timeless with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Forrest Gump will be a timeless movie without a doubt.

I thought Ed Wood, Quiz Show and Clerks (in addition to Shawshank and PF) were far better films than Gump. My laziness prevents it, but I'd wager that there another 3-5 movies from that year which were far better than Gump. It simply wasn't Oscar-worthy. Not a bad film, but nowhere close to the best that year.

One of these is not like the others. "Clerks" is a great student/indy/first film. But that's not saying much.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

I heart Lenny Bruce, so this movie would have to be pretty bad for me not to like it.

If you go into the movie with the right mindset, it's a very good flick. You have to look at the film -- and more importantly the material -- in the context of the times. In other words, you have to place yourself in the mindset that the past 40 years of moral decay never really happened.

I've only seen the film once but would definitely be willing to see it again.

Elaborate.

I'll try to elaborate after 4 drinks in the past 75 minutes (following a 7-hour roadtrip with 2 year-old twins). I knew very little about Lenny Bruce going into this film. Except that he was funny and frequently skirted obscenity laws.

Some (or most?) of the stuff he got in trouble for saying wouldn't even lead to a raised eyebrow today, but back in the day, dude was pushing the limits of polite society.

In other words, if you watch the film without that context, it falls flat. Because so many of the moments make you say "really? WTF?"

That's all I can muster at 11:40pm after nearly a bottle of wine.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Ed Wood

Leon (The Professional)

The Shawshank Redemption

Pulp Fiction

The Ref

The Last Seduction

Quiz Show

Crumb

Clerks

Bullets Over Broadway

Once Were Warriors

The only movies deserving to win over Gump here are Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Maybe The Professional, but I wouldnt. Speaking of Timeless with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Forrest Gump will be a timeless movie without a doubt.

I thought Ed Wood, Quiz Show and Clerks (in addition to Shawshank and PF) were far better films than Gump. My laziness prevents it, but I'd wager that there another 3-5 movies from that year which were far better than Gump. It simply wasn't Oscar-worthy. Not a bad film, but nowhere close to the best that year.

One of these is not like the others. "Clerks" is a great student/indy/first film. But that's not saying much.

I enjoyed the movie far more than Gump. That makes it more worthy of Best Picture than Gump, IMO. I've seen Clerks probably 5 times. Each time it makes me laugh out loud. I've seen Gump twice. The 2nd time was so painful that I'll never sit through the film again.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Ed Wood

Leon (The Professional)

The Shawshank Redemption

Pulp Fiction

The Ref

The Last Seduction

Quiz Show

Crumb

Clerks

Bullets Over Broadway

Once Were Warriors

The only movies deserving to win over Gump here are Shawshank and Pulp Fiction. Maybe The Professional, but I wouldnt. Speaking of Timeless with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Forrest Gump will be a timeless movie without a doubt.

I thought Ed Wood, Quiz Show and Clerks (in addition to Shawshank and PF) were far better films than Gump. My laziness prevents it, but I'd wager that there another 3-5 movies from that year which were far better than Gump. It simply wasn't Oscar-worthy. Not a bad film, but nowhere close to the best that year.

One of these is not like the others. "Clerks" is a great student/indy/first film. But that's not saying much.

Gump is a much larger, more ambitious movie than Clerks. But I'd rather watch Clerks for the fifth time than watch Gump a second time.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I heart Lenny Bruce, so this movie would have to be pretty bad for me not to like it.

If you go into the movie with the right mindset, it's a very good flick. You have to look at the film -- and more importantly the material -- in the context of the times. In other words, you have to place yourself in the mindset that the past 40 years of moral decay never really happened.

I've only seen the film once but would definitely be willing to see it again.

Elaborate.

I'll try to elaborate after 4 drinks in the past 75 minutes (following a 7-hour roadtrip with 2 year-old twins). I knew very little about Lenny Bruce going into this film. Except that he was funny and frequently skirted obscenity laws.

Some (or most?) of the stuff he got in trouble for saying wouldn't even lead to a raised eyebrow today, but back in the day, dude was pushing the limits of polite society.

In other words, if you watch the film without that context, it falls flat. Because so many of the moments make you say "really? WTF?"

That's all I can muster at 11:40pm after nearly a bottle of wine.

I see. It's almost inconceivable that someone could get arrested for such petty offenses.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Gump is a much larger, more ambitious movie than Clerks. But I'd rather watch Clerks for the fifth time than watch Gump a second time.

I enjoyed the movie far more than Gump. That makes it more worthy of Best Picture than Gump, IMO. I've seen Clerks probably 5 times. Each time it makes me laugh out loud. I've seen Gump twice. The 2nd time was so painful that I'll never sit through the film again.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

I heart Lenny Bruce, so this movie would have to be pretty bad for me not to like it.

If you go into the movie with the right mindset, it's a very good flick. You have to look at the film -- and more importantly the material -- in the context of the times. In other words, you have to place yourself in the mindset that the past 40 years of moral decay never really happened.

I've only seen the film once but would definitely be willing to see it again.

Elaborate.

I'll try to elaborate after 4 drinks in the past 75 minutes (following a 7-hour roadtrip with 2 year-old twins). I knew very little about Lenny Bruce going into this film. Except that he was funny and frequently skirted obscenity laws.

Some (or most?) of the stuff he got in trouble for saying wouldn't even lead to a raised eyebrow today, but back in the day, dude was pushing the limits of polite society.

In other words, if you watch the film without that context, it falls flat. Because so many of the moments make you say "really? WTF?"

That's all I can muster at 11:40pm after nearly a bottle of wine.

I see. It's almost inconceivable that someone could get arrested for such petty offenses.

Something like that. And Hoffman makes it all seem convincing. Again, this is nearly a full bottle into tonight. This might not make any sense to me in the morning.Except for the part where Gump is overrated - IMO that is more like a universal truth.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Gump is a much larger, more ambitious movie than Clerks. But I'd rather watch Clerks for the fifth time than watch Gump a second time.

I enjoyed the movie far more than Gump. That makes it more worthy of Best Picture than Gump, IMO. I've seen Clerks probably 5 times. Each time it makes me laugh out loud. I've seen Gump twice. The 2nd time was so painful that I'll never sit through the film again.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Except for the part where Gump is overrated - IMO that is more like a universal truth.

Although another universal truth is that everything that's great is overrated.

 

[Radical Larry]

Gump is a much larger, more ambitious movie than Clerks. But I'd rather watch Clerks for the fifth time than watch Gump a second time.

I enjoyed the movie far more than Gump. That makes it more worthy of Best Picture than Gump, IMO. I've seen Clerks probably 5 times. Each time it makes me laugh out loud. I've seen Gump twice. The 2nd time was so painful that I'll never sit through the film again.

:(

Clerks made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it. When I watched it again it fell flat. Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.ETA: I wasn't comparing it to Gump. But mentioning it in the same sentence as Quiz Show is a bit off.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Kick-###: Very enjoyable movie. To my surprise, Nic Cage does not ruin it... gotta be a first sometime. Fun movie throughout. Having an 11 year old girl as a murdering people was a little odd but I guess it needed to be done. 4/5

Cage has plenty of ####ty movies, but he has a lot of pretty good ones as well. I never understand why people make a comment similar to that as often as they do.

My problem with Cage is that he is seemingly the exact same person no matter what movie he is in. I haven't seen a lot of the newer movies he's been in because of this - just seemed to be the same character whether he was in Face/Off, Family Man, or National Treasure. I think he is a pretty damn bad actor and place him in the Brendan Fraiser "avoid at all cost" category when picking out movies.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Finally caught Frozen River on the Netflix stream a few days ago. Nice little flick. I got engrossed in the tension of the last half hour or so. I was a regular viewer of "Homicide: Life on the Street" back in the day, so I was happy to see Melissa Leo on screen again. She was fantastic.

I haven't seen this movie, but Melissa Leo is awesome. Her character on Homicide is one of the best casting decisions in the history of TV. The casting on that show was brilliant. For the first time ever, here was a show where the cops actually looked like cops.

GBjdd, I'm disappointed you haven't seen this one.

This movie was great, but I just wished I was warned about the low budgetness of the movie. Don't know why, but that threw me off a bit and I had to revisit it a couple days later - looks like a film student shot it, but still well worth watching.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Finally caught Frozen River on the Netflix stream a few days ago. Nice little flick. I got engrossed in the tension of the last half hour or so. I was a regular viewer of "Homicide: Life on the Street" back in the day, so I was happy to see Melissa Leo on screen again. She was fantastic.

I haven't seen this movie, but Melissa Leo is awesome. Her character on Homicide is one of the best casting decisions in the history of TV. The casting on that show was brilliant. For the first time ever, here was a show where the cops actually looked like cops.

GBjdd, I'm disappointed you haven't seen this one.

Bumped to the top of my queue.I sure do hope I've lived up to your expectations

 

[KarmaPolice]

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:

Watched this last night and I am still digesting it. Despite it's flaws, I would say that it's one of the better movies I've seen recently (which might not be saying much considering the dreck I've been wading through). I didn't read the books, but was surprised at a couple of scenes and the level of brutality throughout the movie. I would've liked a little more back story on the main characters - especially Lisbeth, but since the books were written as a triology, maybe that is coming. I've heard the other movies aren't nearly as good, so I might skip those and just read the books. Also, it looks like an Americanized version is coming out in a couple of years (of course)

For those who don't know - the story is about a journalist and a hacker teaming up to solve a 40 year old murder in a family that seems to be the Swedish version of the Kennedys. Good suspense, and I liked the way it was shot, but I didn't buy into the relationship between Lisbeth and the journalist. Still would recommend people checking it out.

As you can imagine, there is a great deal more of the backstory on Lisbeth, Blomkvist and others (just speaking about the first book, not the sequels). There is alot more on the Millennium (Blomkvist's magazine) and the security company Lisbeth works for. The book is also much more brutal and sexually explicit / sexually violent. The most violent scenes in the movie stop well short of what is described in the book.

This surprises me quite a bit. There were a couple scenes that were hard to get through in the movie. Just see how popular the books are, but have never heard anything about them being that violent/brutal.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Kick-###: Very enjoyable movie. To my surprise, Nic Cage does not ruin it... gotta be a first sometime. Fun movie throughout. Having an 11 year old girl as a murdering people was a little odd but I guess it needed to be done. 4/5

Cage has plenty of ####ty movies, but he has a lot of pretty good ones as well. I never understand why people make a comment similar to that as often as they do.

My problem with Cage is that he is seemingly the exact same person no matter what movie he is in. I haven't seen a lot of the newer movies he's been in because of this - just seemed to be the same character whether he was in Face/Off, Family Man, or National Treasure. I think he is a pretty damn bad actor and place him in the Brendan Fraiser "avoid at all cost" category when picking out movies.

Same character for every single movie with a slightly different wardrobe.

 

[Chaka]

Catching up on some from last year:

A Single Man: This movie had me within five minutes. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut and was practically ready to deem it one of the best movies I'd ever seen, until it meandered into an awkward scene with Julianne Moore (who was terrific) near the middle and got a little worn with the super-close-up camera work after a while. Still, the cinematography is outstanding (only later did I find out the movie was directed by Tom Ford, which made sense), and Colin Firth gives one of the best performances I've ever seen--right now I'm putting it in my top ten. As much as I rant on here against voice-overs, I equally love scenes that can tell a whole story without a word being spoken, and there are several in this movie that are just astounding. And some of the subtleties in the storytelling were terrific--notice, for instance, a seemingly inconsequential note at the beginning of the movie that the color red means "lust", and at the end of the movie the object of the protagonist's lust is filmed with a red glow over him. So despite the few flaws above, I still have to give this 4.5/5. One of my favorite movies in a long time.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I agree that the cinematography is outstanding and Firth delivers a very solid performance. However I found that the characters, aside from Moore, didn't speak to me on anything but a superficial level. I just didn't really find myself emotionally invested in Firth, Hoult or Goode. And while I am also impressed when meaning can be conveyed without dialogue, after the 3rd or 4th scene of Firth staring off into the distance for two minutes the impact kind of wore off. I also did not enjoy the voice over because I felt that it came out of nowhere and really only spoke the obvious. Excellent point about using the color red at the end of the film, that point hadn't occurred to me.

Seriously if you haven't seen this don't open this spoiler unless you want the movie ruined for you.

Ultimately however the only part of the movie that really held me was the question "Is he or isn't he going to kill himself." And when we finally answer that question he instantly keels over and dies. What exactly was that supposed to be about? Was Ford trying to be ironic? The fact that he burned the letters almost immediately prior to dying IMO rendered the voice over completely unnecessary. It made me feel like Ford, after giving the audience the benefit of the doubt for most of the movie, thought his audience needed to have their hand held for the completely obvious point of "And just like that it came." No kidding Tommy.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***

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I really wanted to enjoy this movie, and I think it is worth seeing but something just missed for me. Perhaps I will need to digest it a little more and watch it again next year.

I connected with the Firth character enormously from the very beginning, maybe because of the raw emotion and harrowing nature of the beginning of the movie. I was also really taken with the moments when he would lighten up and almost seem natural, while we knew that almost everything he lived to the outside world was a lie. The point where the young guy says that they are "invisible" was telling in this regard. Also, I didn't really see scenes as "just" him staring into the distance, ever. I was completely fascinated by watching a wide range of emotions come and go in his face in each of the silent periods, which is why I found his performance so astonishing.As to the ending:

NPR did interviews with Tom Ford and Colin Firth that I think you will appreciate.

 

[Radical Larry]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

3 or 4 funny lines at most.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

3 or 4 funny lines at most.

I'm with Aaron on this one. Clerks is great.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

3 or 4 funny lines at most.

I'm with Aaron on this one. Clerks is great.

I'M 37?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Kenny Powers]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

I dont disagree, my main point when JDD listed those dozen or so movies though, was I couldnt see more than 2 or 3 of those movies conceivably beating Gump for best picture.I think youre in the Gump is bad camp, but regardless, liking a movie more/thinking it is superior <> winning best picture over a film you dont like a much. Most of those movies he listed just arent the type of movies that win BPO's. Some good examples similar to the Gump situation was English Patient (havent seen it) over Fargo in 96, Titanic over LA Confidential in 97, Gladiator over Traffic in 2000...I dont think I'd have to argue with too many people here that all those films that lost are better and more people here like them better, but they just arent the type of movie that pull down the BPO - especially based on the type of movie that was winning the BPO in the 90's.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Punisher: War Zone...Pretty sweet action/shootout scenes, but thats all it had going for it. Jimmy McNulty as the antagonist with a face that went thru a meatgrinder (literally) was laughable and just every time he's on screen you cant help but be distracted and not take him seriously. I actually thought the first Punisher with Thomas Jane was pretty good and underrated compared to most comic book adaptations, but this was meh....4.2/10

 

[Kenny Powers]

Kick-###: Very enjoyable movie. To my surprise, Nic Cage does not ruin it... gotta be a first sometime. Fun movie throughout. Having an 11 year old girl as a murdering people was a little odd but I guess it needed to be done. 4/5

Cage has plenty of ####ty movies, but he has a lot of pretty good ones as well. I never understand why people make a comment similar to that as often as they do.

My problem with Cage is that he is seemingly the exact same person no matter what movie he is in. I haven't seen a lot of the newer movies he's been in because of this - just seemed to be the same character whether he was in Face/Off, Family Man, or National Treasure. I think he is a pretty damn bad actor and place him in the Brendan Fraiser "avoid at all cost" category when picking out movies.

I dont totally disagree as he has a lot of roles that are similar and crossover, but even the 3 movies you listed I dont see the "same person" argument being a fitting one. Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, 8MM, and Adaptation were all totally different types of characters and IMO all very good movies.And c'mon, Cage is better than Brendan Fraser!!! Youre missing out on some good Fraser movies living by that rule though - Airheads, The Scout, The Quiet American, Journey to the End of the Night, The Air I Breathe

 

[saintfool]

I dont totally disagree as he has a lot of roles that are similar and crossover, but even the 3 movies you listed I dont see the "same person" argument being a fitting one. Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, 8MM, and Adaptation were all totally different types of characters and IMO all very good movies.

I would more or less agree with you on this point. Cage has had two or three different acts to his career. Some really good roles in movies where he showed range like those that you mentioned. And then there is the crap he's been doing over the last 10 years and it's killing his reputation.

And c'mon, Cage is better than Brendan Fraser!!! Youre missing out on some good Fraser movies living by that rule though - Airheads, The Scout, The Quiet American, Journey to the End of the Night, The Air I Breathe

both of those are good films. i would also also hasten to add "god and monsters" to the list of quality films he's been in. the rest is largely crap though...

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

I dont disagree, my main point when JDD listed those dozen or so movies though, was I couldnt see more than 2 or 3 of those movies conceivably beating Gump for best picture.I think youre in the Gump is bad camp, but regardless, liking a movie more/thinking it is superior <> winning best picture over a film you dont like a much. Most of those movies he listed just arent the type of movies that win BPO's. Some good examples similar to the Gump situation was English Patient (havent seen it) over Fargo in 96, Titanic over LA Confidential in 97, Gladiator over Traffic in 2000...I dont think I'd have to argue with too many people here that all those films that lost are better and more people here like them better, but they just arent the type of movie that pull down the BPO - especially based on the type of movie that was winning the BPO in the 90's.

Of course you are right - movies like Gump, English Patient, etc are more likely to pull down the BPO. Which calls into question why anyone places a semblance of value on the BPO award these days. The Academy has "gotten it wrong" so many times lately, I basically ignore it at this point.BTW, nominated films in 1994:- Gump- Shawshank- Pulp Fiction- Quiz Show- Four Weddings and a Funeral

 

[jdoggydogg]

Gump is a much larger, more ambitious movie than Clerks. But I'd rather watch Clerks for the fifth time than watch Gump a second time.

I enjoyed the movie far more than Gump. That makes it more worthy of Best Picture than Gump, IMO. I've seen Clerks probably 5 times. Each time it makes me laugh out loud. I've seen Gump twice. The 2nd time was so painful that I'll never sit through the film again.

Clerks made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it. When I watched it again it fell flat. Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.ETA: I wasn't comparing it to Gump. But mentioning it in the same sentence as Quiz Show is a bit off.

I like Smith's dialogue. It's his direction I have a problem with.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Smith couldn't and still can't write dialogue worth a damn.

Clerks is possibly one of the funniest movies of all time and it's just as funny if you listen to the dialogue by itself. It's not a Best Picture type of film, but the dialogue in it is hilarious. Nothing Smith has done since then really comes close though.

Mallrats was pretty enjoyable.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Finally caught Frozen River on the Netflix stream a few days ago. Nice little flick. I got engrossed in the tension of the last half hour or so. I was a regular viewer of "Homicide: Life on the Street" back in the day, so I was happy to see Melissa Leo on screen again. She was fantastic.

I haven't seen this movie, but Melissa Leo is awesome. Her character on Homicide is one of the best casting decisions in the history of TV. The casting on that show was brilliant. For the first time ever, here was a show where the cops actually looked like cops.

GBjdd, I'm disappointed you haven't seen this one.

Bumped to the top of my queue.I sure do hope I've lived up to your expectations

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