Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (4 Viewers)

[KarmaPolice]

Had not seen anything by him before, and was in tears laughing at Louis CK- Chewed Up.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Had not seen anything by him before, and was in tears laughing at Louis CK- Chewed Up.

Hilarious, his earlier effort, is better. I was just trumpeting this elsewhere. It really is up there with the best comedy works ever.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Had not seen anything by him before, and was in tears laughing at Louis CK- Chewed Up.

Hilarious, his earlier effort, is better. I was just trumpeting this elsewhere. It really is up there with the best comedy works ever.

Thought this one was after Chewed Up. Regardless, I will probably be ripping through all his stand ups this week.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Horrible Bosses...inconsistently funny, but had some really good parts and Jennifer Aniston is not only hawt, but really funny in this flick.

Definitely worth a rental.

I just finished this one. Good flick.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Another Year

I'd call myself a Mike Leigh fan. Topsy-Turvy is one of my sentimental favorites, and Secrets & Lies and Abigail's Party are both very good. But Leigh really tests the view with Another Year. Acting is good, writing very good. The problem lies in the complete lack of any discernible plot. With Leigh, it's always about the subtext - which I enjoy. And yet, one can only watch these people babble on and on for so long. Another Year is well made - as is the case with all of Leigh's movies. But it's just dreadfully boring.

I saw this movie tonight.The movie moved slowly, but I wasn't bored.

Lesley Manville gave an outstanding performance. I can't recall such a profoundly sad character. It seemed to come from somewhere deep inside of her.

The last scene was devastating.

 

[JZilla]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Don't subject yourselves to this misery. My God.

Misery as in depressing film, or misery as in terrible movie? I thought the trailer for this looked pretty interesting.

About as depressing as it gets, I turned it off once it was clear to me it was only going to get worse. A film only a critic could love IMO

 

[Papa Georgio]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Don't subject yourselves to this misery. My God.

Misery as in depressing film, or misery as in terrible movie? I thought the trailer for this looked pretty interesting.

About as depressing as it gets, I turned it off once it was clear to me it was only going to get worse. A film only a critic could love IMO

I watched this expecting a thriller/suspense type movie. Instead the movie is more about coping with guilt. I didn't find it totally unwatchable. I felt a little tricked like the people that complain about The Killing.

 

[Papa Georgio]

Jackie Treehorn RIP.

Ben Gazzera

The other night Roadhouse was on and I was wondering how many people had passed away from that movie. I goggled him to see that he was still alive. Strange that he died just a day or 2 later, when I hadn't thought about him for years.

 

[cosjobs]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Don't subject yourselves to this misery. My God.

Misery as in depressing film, or misery as in terrible movie? I thought the trailer for this looked pretty interesting.

About as depressing as it gets, I turned it off once it was clear to me it was only going to get worse. A film only a critic could love IMO

I have some interest in watching this, but I don't know if I could actually handle it.

 

[JZilla]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Don't subject yourselves to this misery. My God.

Misery as in depressing film, or misery as in terrible movie? I thought the trailer for this looked pretty interesting.

About as depressing as it gets, I turned it off once it was clear to me it was only going to get worse. A film only a critic could love IMO

I watched this expecting a thriller/suspense type movie. Instead the movie is more about coping with guilt. I didn't find it totally unwatchable. I felt a little tricked like the people that complain about The Killing.

It was a mess that was coming together way too slowly for me, and the child's pure evilness was just cartoonish IMO. It was clear there would not be one ounce of positivity in this thing, there was no depth at all, and I just wasn't feeling it. I expected a serious dramatic thriller, but I guess it was just supposed to be a bad horror movie. An interesting concept that probably could have been a lot better.

 

[Apple Jack]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Don't subject yourselves to this misery. My God.

Misery as in depressing film, or misery as in terrible movie? I thought the trailer for this looked pretty interesting.

About as depressing as it gets, I turned it off once it was clear to me it was only going to get worse. A film only a critic could love IMO

Like Dancer in the Dark depressing?

 

[El Floppo]

Watched Idiot Brother, which suffered from being badly misadvertised as a goof-ball/stoner/comedy instead of the more low-key family comedy it actually was. Probably better titled #####y Sisters. I enjoyed it, even if I kept waiting for just one scene to take the humor to a next level.

 

[Kenny Powers]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Don't subject yourselves to this misery. My God.

I avoid anything with Tilda Swinton and Im confident Im not missing out anything good.ETA: Almost anything. Apparently the movies Ive seen of her's, I dont even remember her being in - Vanilla Sky, Adaptation, Broken Flowers, Burn After Reading, Benjie Button - with the only exception being Michael Clayton.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I just watched Moneyball and thought it was amazing. It's pretty obvious they messed around with the events and people for drama's sake but it is IMO easily the best performance of Pitt's career. And the girl who played his daughter was .

Somebody loaned me a copy of Captain America but I'm reluctant to watch it because I'm afraid I'll be disappointed.

I just dont see how this is possible at all for what appears to be such a vanilla role compared to a handful of others he's had, but I cant argue with it until I see Moneyball.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The Grey

Awesome on so many levels. Will likely get a lot of flak because of the ending, but I thought it was perfect.

5/5

Put it on my top 10 favorite list.

Favorites:There Will Be Blood

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Fight Club

Donnie Darko

American Beauty

The Big Lebowski

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Goodfellas

Predator

The Grey

Yes, I thought it was that good. I can't wait to see it again.

Ok, now you have me curious.

For full disclosure, how high were you when you watched it?

Full disclosure:Very very, and I ate 2 grams of toadstools about a half hour before the show.

My idea of a religious experience.

I seem to have saw a slightly different version of what everyone else watched.

Is it worth seeing in theaters? (ie better experience than at home on the HD)

Bolded all are probably in my 10 favorite, TWBB and Bueller not close.

 

[TylerRoseFan]

Watched American Pop last night. Animated flick from 1981 that chronicled 4 generations of Russian Jews in America as their music evolves over the generations. I remember enjoying it as a kid. Enjoyed it a lot. It stands the test of time. Pretty cool show. 4/5

 

[TylerRoseFan]

Just watched The Man from Earth. Loved it. A professor from Stanford (?) tells his friends/colleagues out of the blue that he's leaving the school right before he's to get tenure/promoted and so a bunch of him go to his house to throw a farewell party and find out why. Turns out he's 14,000 years old and makes a habit of moving on every 10 years or so as people start to wonder why he hasn't seemed to age. His friends include a biologist, anthropologist, archaeologist, and philosopher, and the questions they ask and the discussion that follows was fascinating.

8.5/10

Great movie. Wife and I watched it on Netflix a few months ago. Have since seen it twice.

 

[krista4]

Melancholia

Profound, moving, deeply affective. An amazing performance by Dunst and a skillful and engaging effort from Von Triers resulted in a powerful existential treatise on suffering. I am still emotionally overwhelmed from seeing this and having a hard time gauging my rational response and an objective analysis. The fact that it could engage me emotionally with such force moves it into my top 5 for 2011.

4.6/5 stars

Damn it. I love Lars von Trier's movies and based on this review will have to give in and see this, but...Kirsten...Dunst...ugh.

Sanctum.

Shmanctum.

Bad Education

I really enjoyed Pedro Almodóvar's Talk To Her, so I thought I'd give this one a shot. It features Gael García Bernal, who was outstanding in Y Tu Mamá También. I hate to say it, but I just am so bored with transgendered characters in film now. I'm not giving the movie a bad review because I didn't finish it. Just not interested.

I thought this movie was brilliant. I can't recall seeing many if any transgendered people in recent films I've seen though, so the transgenderness of the film didn't give me any apprehensions.

I don't doubt the movie's good. It's not homophobia, I'm just bored with men dressing up as women.

Actually I didn't like this movie at all, and I've seen and loved pretty much all of Almodovar's movies. I can't remember why specifically I couldn't stand it...it's probably back 500 pages ago.

Elephant:

Just got done watching this one and still processing it. Can't imagine the wounds this one opened when it was released. Really liked the same scene from different POVs that you got at the beginning of the film, and I really liked how Van Sant wasn't trying to explain anybody's motives. In fact, I would say that the popular theories are blown out at the end of the movie for the most part:

Spoiler

..by killing off the one shooter (was it Eric?). He was the one that was being shown in the typical light that we would think or the media was latching onto. We see him playing the shooting video game and lecturing his principal about listening when students are talking to you about being picked on - then he gets killed. Felt to me like Van Sant was telling us to throw all that out and left us to trying to make any sense out of what happened.

Spoiler

I didn't like this one. I can understand not showing the motives of the killers, but Van Sant didn't show the motives or give any back story about pretty well any character, except maybe the blonde haired boy. When the kids started to get shot, it really didn't affect me much seeing as I didn't care about any of the characters except that one girl who got bullied. I also thought a lot of the kids' actions were stupid, but maybe that's realistic

I remember liking this one a lot more than I expected, but I get your criticism. As I recall, I liked how well the movie captured the zeitgeist of high school, without having that backstory for characters or much plot-line other than the main event- it felt honest to me. Also thought it was beautiful to look at. In a way, had the positive elements of a typical Sofia Coppolla movie without being reduced to a shallow, superficial goo.Conventions were almost entirely abandoned in favor of realism, in almost every regard. The kids weren't actors. The dialogue wasn't polished. The interaction didn't feel practiced. There were five minute scenes following a kid walking down hallways. I never felt led down any path watching it--it was normal kids doing normal things followed by something shocking happening. It wasn't built up or dramatized, it was cold and raw. After the final scene in the school, the extended shot of the clouds moving across the sky made me feel like I just watched nature unfold. Nothing could stop it. It just was. A million tiny reasons collided and combined to produce one event.

Wow, excellent description of the movie. I was in the "loved it" camp as well, and your description is spot-on.

 

[krista4]

watched the BBC "the trip" with steve coogan. i think everyone knows that i am fan of coogan and it should come as no surprise that i enjoyed this. it's more amusing than funny. on some level this reminded me of "tristam shandy" which is no surprise given his pairing with winterbottom. i'm sure he's a bundle of insecurities, neuroses, and the like. they seem to come out of him in those reflective, solitary moments captured on film and yet he's still compelling to me.

I love Steve Coogan. I kept thinking that this movie was a bit one-note and I didn't want to keep watching, but then again found myself laughing constantly. It really was very good.

I Love You, Phillip Morris - The gay "Catch Me If You Can". I was curious as to why a caper comedy as true & unbelievable & compelling as Frank Abagnale's story, from the people who brought you "Bad Santa", featuring a performance by Jim Carrey that makes the one Clooney's about to win an Oscar for look like a teen sitcomer, died on the vine like it did. I must conclude that it has something to with scenes of the star slamming a butt as its owner exhorts him to decorate his interior with ejaculate or dying of AIDS in a prison infirmary. It is certainly not for lack of humor or entertainment - I laughed out loud a dozen times, gasped with delight a couple more & applauded at the end. One of the half-dozen best movies of this century. 4.58/5

I'm afraid that our iRomance is over...again. :(

I think a lot of people feel this way, but just stopping in to reconfirm that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a fantastic movie. 910/10

Fixed.

Mega film boner- looks like atom egoyan is directing a movie about the west memphis 3 based on the book Devil's Knot.

The Debt

Thought it was pretty good. Good acting, story, and suspense.

Felt gritty and realistic.

felt like an HBO movie for me somehow. not bad by pretty meh.watched the very french "monsieur hire". pretty good little hitchcock knock-off by leconte, i think. maybe more depalma than hitchcock, now that i think about it.

I remember loving Monsieur Hire when I watched it about 20 years ago. Damn, I'm old.

Another Year

I'd call myself a Mike Leigh fan. Topsy-Turvy is one of my sentimental favorites, and Secrets & Lies and Abigail's Party are both very good. But Leigh really tests the view with Another Year. Acting is good, writing very good. The problem lies in the complete lack of any discernible plot. With Leigh, it's always about the subtext - which I enjoy. And yet, one can only watch these people babble on and on for so long. Another Year is well made - as is the case with all of Leigh's movies. But it's just dreadfully boring.

I saw this movie tonight.The movie moved slowly, but I wasn't bored.

Lesley Manville gave an outstanding performance. I can't recall such a profoundly sad character. It seemed to come from somewhere deep inside of her.

The last scene was devastating.

especially the bold. I still can't understand GBjdd's reaction to this movie. I was just entranced the whole time.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

My 14 y.o. daughter and I both agreed...for a movie with a lot of stuff going on, Sucker Punch sure is a dull movie.

Unprompted, she repeated the same criticism of most people - waaaay too much use of slo mo.

Worth a watch, I guess, but only once. And really, I can't quite put my finger on why it didn't work.

 

[Daywalker]

Conatagion. Was expecting a pile but found it to be an entertaining and well-made flick. Worth watching.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Surprised it took me this long to watch this. I could watch Kat Dennings in anything. Movie is a bit unbalanced but has some really sweet parts and overall is really enjoyable. Dennings and Cera were great together. Seemed like a classic movie was there to be had but they missed the mark with a lot of the hijinks dealing with the co-stars. I liked it though.

 

[jamny]

Disappointed in Apollo 18. No doubt it was extremely well done as far as capturing the feel and atmosphere of the times and being on the surface of the moon. Loved that part of it. But these kind of "Blair Witch" movies need to get to the point quickly and avoid too much setup. It was good once it gets started but only would really scare people that thought it was real. 2.5/5

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The Three Musketeers: Pretty dull for a movie with so much action. I'm not sure if it was the actors or writing but none of them had any charm, charisma or were witty. Some great costumes and scenes but not much beyond that. 2.5/5

 

[saintfool]

Watched American Pop last night. Animated flick from 1981 that chronicled 4 generations of Russian Jews in America as their music evolves over the generations. I remember enjoying it as a kid. Enjoyed it a lot. It stands the test of time. Pretty cool show. 4/5

i saw this in the theater as a kid. for some reason, i remember a bob seger more than anything else from that film. bakshi is bat-####.

 

[Papa Georgio]

Watched Moon this past weekend. If you don't like movies with a limited amount of characters this won't be for you. Pretty much Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey (as the robot GERTY) are all you see. Rockwell's charachter is a moon farmer/miner that is doing a 3 year tour and completely isolated from Earth except for some time delayed messages that get sent back and forth. I thought Sam Rockwell did an nice job with his part. The movie was pretty vanilla with me neither loving it nor hating it. Based on this movie I can't support Newt Gingrich and his Moon Base agenda though.

2.75/5

 

[saintfool]

The Three Musketeers: Pretty dull for a movie with so much action. I'm not sure if it was the actors or writing but none of them had any charm, charisma or were witty. Some great costumes and scenes but not much beyond that. 2.5/5

which one did you watch? i loved the old richard lester one (and sequel) from the 70's with the all-star casts. those were great fun. there was another version with keifer sutherland and a few similar type actors. i know there was a new one done in the last year with milla jovavich and one of the guys from "rome". it looked pretty craptacular and especially so in 3-d!

 

[hooter311]

The Grey

Is it worth seeing in theaters? (ie better experience than at home on the HD)Bolded all are probably in my 10 favorite, TWBB and Bueller not close.

I think so. The plane crash is probably the coolest since Castaway and the Wolf attacks are best experienced on the biggest and best surround sound you can find. The sound was absolutely fantastic, but I'm sure what I was on had at least a little to do with it, still that was like at 11, and I would guess its still a 8/10 at worst.Not for the weak stomach, lots of cringe worthy stuff.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The Three Musketeers: Pretty dull for a movie with so much action. I'm not sure if it was the actors or writing but none of them had any charm, charisma or were witty. Some great costumes and scenes but not much beyond that. 2.5/5

which one did you watch? i loved the old richard lester one (and sequel) from the 70's with the all-star casts. those were great fun. there was another version with keifer sutherland and a few similar type actors. i know there was a new one done in the last year with milla jovavich and one of the guys from "rome". it looked pretty craptacular and especially so in 3-d!

The new one. Milla had the only interesting character. The only other actors I recognized were Orlando Bloom and Ray Stevenson. Maybe I need to watch it in super awesome amazing 3-D to get the full effect.

 

[saintfool]

The new one. Milla had the only interesting character. The only other actors I recognized were Orlando Bloom and Ray Stevenson. Maybe I need to watch it in super awesome amazing 3-D to get the full effect.

looking it up on IMDB, i'm not sure it's worth the effort. the director is a total hack. he's made one interesting film - "event horizon" - but after that it's a been a string of ####ty "resident evil" films and other crap.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

The new one. Milla had the only interesting character. The only other actors I recognized were Orlando Bloom and Ray Stevenson. Maybe I need to watch it in super awesome amazing 3-D to get the full effect.

looking it up on IMDB, i'm not sure it's worth the effort. the director is a total hack. he's made one interesting film - "event horizon" - but after that it's a been a string of ####ty "resident evil" films and other crap.

Hrm. I actually kind of like his past movies. I'm a fan of the Resident Evil movies. I know they aren't good, but for some reason I like them. Death Race was pretty awesome as was the first Mortal Kombat and Alien vs Predator. The guy is never going to win an Oscar but he knows how to make a fun/entertaining action movie. I probably liked this the least of anything he has directed.

 

[saintfool]

Hrm. I actually kind of like his past movies. I'm a fan of the Resident Evil movies. I know they aren't good, but for some reason I like them. Death Race was pretty awesome as was the first Mortal Kombat and Alien vs Predator. The guy is never going to win an Oscar but he knows how to make a fun/entertaining action movie. I probably liked this the least of anything he has directed.

eh, different strokes.

 

[Reg Lllama of Brixton]

Watched American Pop last night. Animated flick from 1981 that chronicled 4 generations of Russian Jews in America as their music evolves over the generations. I remember enjoying it as a kid. Enjoyed it a lot. It stands the test of time. Pretty cool show. 4/5

Very good movie. A few years ahead of its time too.

 

[saintfool]

Watched American Pop last night. Animated flick from 1981 that chronicled 4 generations of Russian Jews in America as their music evolves over the generations. I remember enjoying it as a kid. Enjoyed it a lot. It stands the test of time. Pretty cool show. 4/5

Very good movie. A few years ahead of its time too.

in that....?

 

[offdee]

Drive.The music and the stylizing made it feel like a movie from the 1980's without being cheesy. Liked that aspect of it. The performances were all good but have no problem with Brooks not getting a nomination.Thought it was a tight little movie. Cool opening car chase scene. The ending left me a bit wanting but the more I think about how the characters ended up feeling about each other the more I like it.Definetly worth checking out. 3 out of 4 stars.

Just watched this last night. The music made the movie for me, almost as if it was another character in setting the stage. The family dinner scene where the husband was recalling how him and the girl first met took a completely and perfectly different vibe had it not been for the eery music. Surprised how greusome some of the violence was. Ryan Gosling is a beast of an actor. One of the best movies I've viewed in quite some time.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Watched Moon this past weekend. If you don't like movies with a limited amount of characters this won't be for you. Pretty much Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey (as the robot GERTY) are all you see. Rockwell's charachter is a moon farmer/miner that is doing a 3 year tour and completely isolated from Earth except for some time delayed messages that get sent back and forth. I thought Sam Rockwell did an nice job with his part. The movie was pretty vanilla with me neither loving it nor hating it. Based on this movie I can't support Newt Gingrich and his Moon Base agenda though.

2.75/5

but,but....

 

[JZilla]

I loved MOON

Zowie Bowie's second flick, Source Code, notsomuch

 

[jdoggydogg]

Conventions were almost entirely abandoned in favor of realism, in almost every regard. The kids weren't actors. The dialogue wasn't polished. The interaction didn't feel practiced. There were five minute scenes following a kid walking down hallways. I never felt led down any path watching it--it was normal kids doing normal things followed by something shocking happening. It wasn't built up or dramatized, it was cold and raw. After the final scene in the school, the extended shot of the clouds moving across the sky made me feel like I just watched nature unfold. Nothing could stop it. It just was. A million tiny reasons collided and combined to produce one event.

Wow, excellent description of the movie. I was in the "loved it" camp as well, and your description is spot-on.

Elephant is an amazing film, and I'm surprised it didn't get more love.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Another Year

I'd call myself a Mike Leigh fan. Topsy-Turvy is one of my sentimental favorites, and Secrets & Lies and Abigail's Party are both very good. But Leigh really tests the view with Another Year. Acting is good, writing very good. The problem lies in the complete lack of any discernible plot. With Leigh, it's always about the subtext - which I enjoy. And yet, one can only watch these people babble on and on for so long. Another Year is well made - as is the case with all of Leigh's movies. But it's just dreadfully boring.

I saw this movie tonight.The movie moved slowly, but I wasn't bored.

Lesley Manville gave an outstanding performance. I can't recall such a profoundly sad character. It seemed to come from somewhere deep inside of her.

The last scene was devastating.

especially the bold. I still can't understand GBjdd's reaction to this movie. I was just entranced the whole time.

I can see why you liked it. There's some good stuff here. I just found myself wanting, I don't know, a conflict? A plot, perhaps?

 

[jdoggydogg]

My 14 y.o. daughter and I both agreed...for a movie with a lot of stuff going on, Sucker Punch sure is a dull movie.

Unprompted, she repeated the same criticism of most people - waaaay too much use of slo mo.

Worth a watch, I guess, but only once. And really, I can't quite put my finger on why it didn't work.

I enjoyed the movie, but I can't argue with what you said.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Conventions were almost entirely abandoned in favor of realism, in almost every regard. The kids weren't actors. The dialogue wasn't polished. The interaction didn't feel practiced. There were five minute scenes following a kid walking down hallways. I never felt led down any path watching it--it was normal kids doing normal things followed by something shocking happening. It wasn't built up or dramatized, it was cold and raw. After the final scene in the school, the extended shot of the clouds moving across the sky made me feel like I just watched nature unfold. Nothing could stop it. It just was. A million tiny reasons collided and combined to produce one event.

Wow, excellent description of the movie. I was in the "loved it" camp as well, and your description is spot-on.

Elephant is an amazing film, and I'm surprised it didn't get more love.

Winning the Palme d'Or is some pretty decent sized love.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Conventions were almost entirely abandoned in favor of realism, in almost every regard. The kids weren't actors. The dialogue wasn't polished. The interaction didn't feel practiced. There were five minute scenes following a kid walking down hallways. I never felt led down any path watching it--it was normal kids doing normal things followed by something shocking happening. It wasn't built up or dramatized, it was cold and raw. After the final scene in the school, the extended shot of the clouds moving across the sky made me feel like I just watched nature unfold. Nothing could stop it. It just was. A million tiny reasons collided and combined to produce one event.

Wow, excellent description of the movie. I was in the "loved it" camp as well, and your description is spot-on.

Elephant is an amazing film, and I'm surprised it didn't get more love.

Winning the Palme d'Or is some pretty decent sized love.

Elephant has a lot of detractors on this site.

 

[Reg Lllama of Brixton]

Watched American Pop last night. Animated flick from 1981 that chronicled 4 generations of Russian Jews in America as their music evolves over the generations. I remember enjoying it as a kid. Enjoyed it a lot. It stands the test of time. Pretty cool show. 4/5

Very good movie. A few years ahead of its time too.

in that....?

In the theater.

 

[saintfool]

In the theater.

i don't follow. it wasn't exactly a technical breakthrough (rotoscoping from bakshi was almost expected) nor was it one in storytelling (well-worn tale).

 

[jdoggydogg]

This is odd:

John Hawkes to star in Jackie Brown prequel, sort of

In one of his increasingly more frequent non-total-creep roles, John Hawkes has signed on to star alongside Yasiin Bey (whom you’re not supposed to call Mos Def anymore, like we went over) in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s 1978 novel The Switch, the Rum Punch predecessor that first introduced the characters later seen in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Set 15 years before the events of that book and film, the newly retitled Switch—so as to avoid confusion with comedies where Jason Bateman sneaks his sperm into Jennifer Aniston—is being pitched as a sort-of Jackie Brown prequel, with Bey and Hawkes playing younger versions of Samuel L. Jackson’s silver-tongued Ordell Robbie and Robert De Niro’s short-tempered Louis Gara, and taking advantage of those actors’ respective gifts for gab and growing a sleazy mustache. Leonard himself will act as producer, having given his blessing to a spec script from writer-director Dan Schechter that Schechter wrote as a gamble without asking for any permission, which suggests it must be pretty good. Hopefully it's also good enough to wrest the title away from that movie where Ellen Barkin is a man, because on that tangential note, there really are too many movies with "switch" and switch variances in their name. Heed our warning, children, as we must begin conserving immediately for the body-swapping comedies of the future.

 

[joffer]

Contagion was good

 

[Papa Georgio]

Conventions were almost entirely abandoned in favor of realism, in almost every regard. The kids weren't actors. The dialogue wasn't polished. The interaction didn't feel practiced. There were five minute scenes following a kid walking down hallways. I never felt led down any path watching it--it was normal kids doing normal things followed by something shocking happening. It wasn't built up or dramatized, it was cold and raw. After the final scene in the school, the extended shot of the clouds moving across the sky made me feel like I just watched nature unfold. Nothing could stop it. It just was. A million tiny reasons collided and combined to produce one event.

Wow, excellent description of the movie. I was in the "loved it" camp as well, and your description is spot-on.

Elephant is an amazing film, and I'm surprised it didn't get more love.

Winning the Palme d'Or is some pretty decent sized love.

Elephant has a lot of detractors on this site.

Just got Elephant, should be watching it in the next week or so.

 

[Kenny Powers]

This is odd:

John Hawkes to star in Jackie Brown prequel, sort of

In one of his increasingly more frequent non-total-creep roles, John Hawkes has signed on to star alongside Yasiin Bey (whom you’re not supposed to call Mos Def anymore, like we went over) in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s 1978 novel The Switch, the Rum Punch predecessor that first introduced the characters later seen in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Set 15 years before the events of that book and film, the newly retitled Switch—so as to avoid confusion with comedies where Jason Bateman sneaks his sperm into Jennifer Aniston—is being pitched as a sort-of Jackie Brown prequel, with Bey and Hawkes playing younger versions of Samuel L. Jackson’s silver-tongued Ordell Robbie and Robert De Niro’s short-tempered Louis Gara, and taking advantage of those actors’ respective gifts for gab and growing a sleazy mustache. Leonard himself will act as producer, having given his blessing to a spec script from writer-director Dan Schechter that Schechter wrote as a gamble without asking for any permission, which suggests it must be pretty good. Hopefully it's also good enough to wrest the title away from that movie where Ellen Barkin is a man, because on that tangential note, there really are too many movies with "switch" and switch variances in their name. Heed our warning, children, as we must begin conserving immediately for the body-swapping comedies of the future.

I actually think this sounds pretty cool...Hawkes and Mos are both solid actors as well.

 

[jdoggydogg]

This is odd:

John Hawkes to star in Jackie Brown prequel, sort of

In one of his increasingly more frequent non-total-creep roles, John Hawkes has signed on to star alongside Yasiin Bey (whom you're not supposed to call Mos Def anymore, like we went over) in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel The Switch, the Rum Punch predecessor that first introduced the characters later seen in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Set 15 years before the events of that book and film, the newly retitled Switch—so as to avoid confusion with comedies where Jason Bateman sneaks his sperm into Jennifer Aniston—is being pitched as a sort-of Jackie Brown prequel, with Bey and Hawkes playing younger versions of Samuel L. Jackson's silver-tongued Ordell Robbie and Robert De Niro's short-tempered Louis Gara, and taking advantage of those actors' respective gifts for gab and growing a sleazy mustache. Leonard himself will act as producer, having given his blessing to a spec script from writer-director Dan Schechter that Schechter wrote as a gamble without asking for any permission, which suggests it must be pretty good. Hopefully it's also good enough to wrest the title away from that movie where Ellen Barkin is a man, because on that tangential note, there really are too many movies with "switch" and switch variances in their name. Heed our warning, children, as we must begin conserving immediately for the body-swapping comedies of the future.

I actually think this sounds pretty cool...Hawkes and Mos are both solid actors as well.

 

[offdee]

I'm on a Ryan Gosling kick...

Half Nelson: overall movie was good, Gosling was great. i effing hate drugs..really pisses me off.

It wasn't clear to me after viewing what the title of the movie signified even though I knew it was a wrestling move. Thought maybe his last name was Nelson an that wouldve made a lot of sense since he was more or less living a double life, so only giving half of his focus to teaching.

Looked it up online and basically everywhere shows associated to the wrestling move. Refers to the "hold" that drugs have on the main character. This particular move is similar to the act of strangling. Its also very difficult to get out of without putting up a trmendous fight. Most just give up and succumb to it.

 

[Kenny Powers]

This is odd:

John Hawkes to star in Jackie Brown prequel, sort of

In one of his increasingly more frequent non-total-creep roles, John Hawkes has signed on to star alongside Yasiin Bey (whom you're not supposed to call Mos Def anymore, like we went over) in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel The Switch, the Rum Punch predecessor that first introduced the characters later seen in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Set 15 years before the events of that book and film, the newly retitled Switch—so as to avoid confusion with comedies where Jason Bateman sneaks his sperm into Jennifer Aniston—is being pitched as a sort-of Jackie Brown prequel, with Bey and Hawkes playing younger versions of Samuel L. Jackson's silver-tongued Ordell Robbie and Robert De Niro's short-tempered Louis Gara, and taking advantage of those actors' respective gifts for gab and growing a sleazy mustache. Leonard himself will act as producer, having given his blessing to a spec script from writer-director Dan Schechter that Schechter wrote as a gamble without asking for any permission, which suggests it must be pretty good. Hopefully it's also good enough to wrest the title away from that movie where Ellen Barkin is a man, because on that tangential note, there really are too many movies with "switch" and switch variances in their name. Heed our warning, children, as we must begin conserving immediately for the body-swapping comedies of the future.

I actually think this sounds pretty cool...Hawkes and Mos are both solid actors as well.

Jackie Brown redux