Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (1 Viewer)

[shadyridr]

Blades of Glory- Not as bad as Talladega Nights but still pretty bad. Will Ferrell either makes classic comedies (Old School, Anchorman, his scene in Wedding Crashers) or absolute duds (Talladega and this).

Snakes on a Plane- This movie was so bad it was good.

 

[Darth Cheney]

Hard Eight...... P.T. Anderson's debut film I think. Sadly, after watching this I' m thinking that Boogie Nights was the exception.....not the rule.

 

[El Floppo]

Just watched Layer Cake on HDnet last night. Very very good movie....(Also Sienna Miller.... )

Why, oh WHY, did he have to be abducted in that hotel! Jeebus is she smokin' in that scene.

It's crazy how hot she looked in that scene. :wood:

And in totally unrelated news, I watched the documentary "DiG" last night (just upgraded to digital cable and love On Demand). Pretty interesting tale of the parallel rise and sputter of two friendly bands from the mid-90's.

Was just listenting to some BrianJonestownMassacre... LOVE that movie, even though I can't take either of the protagonists.

 

[saintfool]

Was just listenting to some BrianJonestownMassacre... LOVE that movie, even though I can't take either of the protagonists.

I thought of it less about Courtney and the Dandy Warhols and much more about Anton...

 

[El Floppo]

Was just listenting to some BrianJonestownMassacre... LOVE that movie, even though I can't take either of the protagonists.

I thought of it less about Courtney and the Dandy Warhols and much more about Anton...

True... since Courtney was the narrator, I guess he couldn't talk more about himself than he already did.But, despite his musical "genius", didn't you find Anton increasingly annoying as the movie wore on (although I guess that's the point)?eta: ... the chick in the Dandy's...

 

[saintfool]

Was just listenting to some BrianJonestownMassacre... LOVE that movie, even though I can't take either of the protagonists.

I thought of it less about Courtney and the Dandy Warhols and much more about Anton...

True... since Courtney was the narrator, I guess he couldn't talk more about himself than he already did.But, despite his musical "genius", didn't you find Anton increasingly annoying as the movie wore on (although I guess that's the point)?eta: ... the chick in the Dandy's...

Yeah, Anton was quickly becoming insufferable. The other BJM guy was a very close second though. When he finally quit the band and was sulking in his hotel room ("I can do more than just play the tamborine...") was my favorite moment in the film.Zia was very cute/sexy. I love the fact she liked to bounce and went bra-less a lot.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The King of Kong - in theaters right now, should be on DVD soon. The story of a man's pursuit of the world record in Donkey Kong. the first 20 minutes or so, I thought I was watching a Christopher guest movie. Then a compelling story with a sympathetic hero and unsympathetic villain breaks out.

I cannot wait to see this one.

Same here. That is going to rock.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Hard Eight...... P.T. Anderson's debut film I think. Sadly, after watching this I' m thinking that Boogie Nights was the exception.....not the rule.

I like Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love, so I think he's done more than just Boogie Nights.Anderson's latest film There Will Be Blood could rock.

 

[Swampy]

300- Kick #### movie. Wish I had saw it in the theatres. "Our ancestors built this wall using ancient stones from the bosom of Greece herself. And with a little Spartan help, your Persian scouts supplied the mortar. "

Reno 911- Classic 911. Hope they make a second one. "This is the stupidest group of people I've ever worked with who are not legally ######ed."

 

[jdoggydogg]

"Watched" a couple of free films on HBO:

Snakes on a Plane and The Lady in the Water. What a waste of time. Couldn't get through more than a few minutes of either. Snakes is dumb and no way can an actor of Paul Giamatti's stature get away with stuttering in a movie. Sorry, not believable!

I have Goddard's Breathless and The Lives of Others here from Netflix, and I am looking forward to cleansing that other junk out of my brain.

 

[saintfool]

I have Goddard's Breathless and The Lives of Others here from Netflix, and I am looking forward to cleansing that other junk out of my brain.

Both are superb. I posted in the thread already about "The Lives..." and I stand by it. The performances just draw you in. "Breathless" is a really fine film. Like a lot of Godard and other French films of the period, it just sort of ambles along at its own pace and with its own peculiar logic. Belmondo is fine and Seberg is such a cutie. I have a soft spot for her, as much for her body of work as her own life...

 

[jdoggydogg]

I have Goddard's Breathless and The Lives of Others here from Netflix, and I am looking forward to cleansing that other junk out of my brain.

Both are superb. I posted in the thread already about "The Lives..." and I stand by it. The performances just draw you in. "Breathless" is a really fine film. Like a lot of Godard and other French films of the period, it just sort of ambles along at its own pace and with its own peculiar logic. Belmondo is fine and Seberg is such a cutie. I have a soft spot for her, as much for her body of work as her own life...

Sweet. Have you seen Rififi?

 

[Loan Sharks]

The Pursuit of Happyness - From the reviews and topic I was sure I was going to hate it but the wife wanted to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised and would say it is a above average movie and if you are going to watch one with the lady that she will like you could do a lot worse.

Wild Hogs - Average some funny moments William H Macy was pretty good in it.

300 - People rave about this but I didn't see the "great" that people were talking about. I would call it a average movie. It had some decent battle scenes, I found out later that there was some comic book about it. Very comic booky and I am more a history channel kind of guy.

 

[jamny]

"Watched" a couple of free films on HBO:

Snakes on a Plane What a waste of time. Couldn't get through more than a few minutes of either. Snakes is dumb.

 

[saintfool]

I have Goddard's Breathless and The Lives of Others here from Netflix, and I am looking forward to cleansing that other junk out of my brain.

Both are superb. I posted in the thread already about "The Lives..." and I stand by it. The performances just draw you in. "Breathless" is a really fine film. Like a lot of Godard and other French films of the period, it just sort of ambles along at its own pace and with its own peculiar logic. Belmondo is fine and Seberg is such a cutie. I have a soft spot for her, as much for her body of work as her own life...

Sweet. Have you seen Rififi?

Oh yeah. I think I posted about it a while back even."The Motorcycle Diaries" last night with the wife. Pretty good.

 

[Bogart]

Had Movie Night with the wife last night...

Must Love Dogs - Really good for a romantic comedy. Even the most manly of FBGers should be able to stay with it. Diane Lane looks amazing as always and John Cusack is Cusack. He can do no wrong in my opinion. Good supporting cast highlighted by Christopher Plummer as Lane's dad (and her first internet date.)

Followed up with more Cusack, watching for easily the 100th time...

High Fidelity - Can't say anything about this movie that hasn't already been said on the boards. Easily a top 5 movie for me all time. Funny thing I had never noticed before. The scene where Rob and Laura are listening to Ian having sex upstairs ("I should only be so lucky."), Laura is reading the book "Love Thy Neighbor: A Story Of War", which of course is exactly what she does later. Also with my three year old asleep in my arms, I really noticed the amount of language in the movie. I have nothing against it, but it is going to be a while before I can sit down with my son and show him this classic.

Watched Blades Of Glory again before returning it today, and called it a night.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I have Goddard's Breathless and The Lives of Others here from Netflix, and I am looking forward to cleansing that other junk out of my brain.

Both are superb. I posted in the thread already about "The Lives..." and I stand by it. The performances just draw you in. "Breathless" is a really fine film. Like a lot of Godard and other French films of the period, it just sort of ambles along at its own pace and with its own peculiar logic. Belmondo is fine and Seberg is such a cutie. I have a soft spot for her, as much for her body of work as her own life...

Sweet. Have you seen Rififi?

Oh yeah. I think I posted about it a while back even."The Motorcycle Diaries" last night with the wife. Pretty good.

Definitely. I was happy not knowing much about Diaries, because I had no clue who the film was about until the reveal at the end.

 

[krista4]

Was just listenting to some BrianJonestownMassacre... LOVE that movie, even though I can't take either of the protagonists.

I thought of it less about Courtney and the Dandy Warhols and much more about Anton...

True... since Courtney was the narrator, I guess he couldn't talk more about himself than he already did.But, despite his musical "genius", didn't you find Anton increasingly annoying as the movie wore on (although I guess that's the point)?

eta: ... the chick in the Dandy's...

Yeah, Anton was quickly becoming insufferable. The other BJM guy was a very close second though. When he finally quit the band and was sulking in his hotel room ("I can do more than just play the tamborine...") was my favorite moment in the film.Zia was very cute/sexy. I love the fact she liked to bounce and went bra-less a lot.

Anton knelt down in front of me and kissed my hand when I ran into him at Lollapalooza two years ago (where BJM did a fantastic set). I have no idea why he did it, but it was very amusing.Loved, loved, loved that movie.

As to some of the others here, also loved The Lives of Others and have it from Netflix to watch again. Have talked here about my for Spellbound before, and Control Room is great, too. Huge fan of all P.T. Anderson flicks.

I was extremely underimpressed with Breathless. :( Wasn't a big fan of The Motorcycle Diaries other than the chance to see a lot of Gael Garcia Bernal, who is #1 on my list of Hot Celebrity Guys.

The only thing I've seen lately was Balseros, a documentary about Cuban refugees who attempted to come to the US on rafts in 1994. The filmmakers also followed up on the people seven years later. Some great stories, some tragic and sad ones, all of them very moving and interesting.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

The Lives of Others - 8.5/10

Shows just how Orwellian things really were in communist East Germany. I was saddened to find out that the actor that played Wiesler, Ulrich Mühe, died of cancer this past year.

Fracture - 6.5/10

A serviceable thriller, although we had the ending figured out within 20 minutes and...

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

I hated the idea that nobody would check to see if the two guns were of the same type. Wouldn't that be a chip shot for a decent detective?

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

Nanny McPhee - 6.5/10

A not-terrible kids show with an understated performance by Emma Thompson.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Superman Returns

I would have never rented this, but it was free on HBO. Meh. Not sure why this film was even made. Aside from some good special effects, I think the first Chris Reeve film was just fine.

 

[Buckychudd]

Superman Returns

I would have never rented this, but it was free on HBO. Meh. Not sure why this film was even made. Aside from some good special effects, I think the first Chris Reeve film was just fine.

Biggest problem with this film is they tried to recreate Reeves/Kidder with different actors....they would have been better off just going in a completely different direction.

 

[El Floppo]

The Lives of Others - 8.5/10

Shows just how Orwellian things really were in communist East Germany. I was saddened to find out that the actor that played Wiesler, Ulrich Mühe, died of cancer this past year.

Not sure if we all talked about this or not, but I recently talked with an old family friend who used to be one of the LA Times movie reviewers- mentioned how much I liked this film. She forwarded his obit from the UK- pretty amazing marriage of truth and fiction...

London Daily Telegraph

Ulrich Mühe

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 27/07/2007

Ulrich Mühe, the German actor who died of cancer on Sunday aged 54, became known to British cinema-goers as the hard-line Stasi captain in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's psychological drama Das Leben der Anderen ("The Lives of Others"), which won an Oscar for best foreign film earlier this year.

Mühe gave a breathtaking performance as Gerd Weisler, a by-the-book Communist who is given the job of bugging the apartment of an East German playwright (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend (Martina Gedeck), but becomes increasingly uncomfortable with what he is doing after discovering that the government minister who ordered the surveillance did so for sexual rather than political motives.

Set in East Berlin in the mid-1980s, the film traces the tense, moving and dangerous relationship that develops between Weisler, his seedy and sweatily obedient boss, Lieutenant-Colonel Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), and the playwright and his girlfriend.

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Almost as extraordinary as Mühe's complex and understated portrayal of the repressed secret service agent whose heart moves gradually from contempt and envy to compassion, was that Mühe himself had found evidence, from Stasi files opened after German re-unification, that he been under surveillance not only by four of his fellow actors in the East Berlin theatre, but also by his former wife, the actress Jenny Gröllmann.

Like the playwright and his girlfriend in the film, Mühe and Jenny Gröllmann had once been East Germany's golden couple: stars of the Berlin stage who fell in love while making a film (a love story) and got married in 1984. The Stasi file on Mühe recorded in meticulous detail the meetings which Jenny Gröllmann, allegedly a Stasi "inoffizielle Mitarbeiter" (registered informer), had with her controller over several years.

The story was pertinent because the climax of The Lives of Others centres on the pressure exerted by the Stasi on the playwright's girlfriend to make her betray him as the author of - to them - a treasonous exposé of covered-up GDR suicide rates.

In a book accompanying the film, Mühe spoke about the sense of betrayal he felt when he found out about his former wife's alleged Stasi role.

But the affair took a bizarre turn after Jenny Gröllmann's real-life Stasi controller claimed that he had made up many of the details in the file and that the actress had not known that she was speaking to a Stasi agent.

After a highly public and acrimonious battle in the courts, Jenny Gröllmann, who died last August, won an injunction preventing the book's publication. In the film Weisler, too, fakes his reports - in order to hide what is really happening in the playwright's apartment from his Stasi superiors.

When asked how he prepared for his role in the film Mühe replied simply: "I remembered."

The son of a furrier, Freidrich Hans Ulrich Mühe was born on June 20 1953 at Grimma in Saxony, then part of the German Democratic Republic. After leaving school, he trained as a construction worker before serving in the Volksarmee as a guard at the Berlin Wall. He then studied acting in Leipzig at the Hans Otto Theaterhochschule.

He made his professional stage debut at Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chimnitz) in 1979 as Lyngstrand in Ibsen's Lady from the Sea. The East Berlin playwright and director Heine Müller cast Mühe in a production of Macbeth at East Berlin's Volksbühne Theater.

In 1983 he joined the ensemble of the city's Deutsches Theater, where his versatility in both comic and serious roles led to his becoming its star. On screen he co-starred with his wife Jenny Gröllmann in Herman Zschoche's biopic Halfte des Lebens (1984, "A Half of Life"), about the poet Hölderlin.

Mühe played a leading role in orchestrating the demonstrations that preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the same year he achieved international recognition in Bernhard Wicki's Das Spinnennetz ("Spider's Web"), as a lieutenant who sleeps and murders his way to professional success following a near fatal injury during the Kiel sailors' mutiny of 1918.

Afterwards he appeared in numerous films, television series and plays in Germany and further afield. In Michael Haneke's thriller Funny Games (1997) he and his second wife Suzanne Lothar played a husband and wife held captive in their holiday cabin by two psychotic young men who force them to play sadistic "games" with one another.

In 2002 he was chillingly convincing as Dr Mengele in Costa-Gavras's Amen. Last year he appeared at the Barbican in Thomas Ostermeier's production of Sarah Kane's Blasted, playing a middle-aged journalist whose edgy encounter with a young girl leads to the precipitate eruption of civil war in a Leeds hotel room.

Ulrich Mühe is survived by his wife, Susanne Lothar, by their son and daughter, by a daughter by his marriage to Jenny Gröllmann and by two children from an earlier marriage.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Superman Returns

I would have never rented this, but it was free on HBO. Meh. Not sure why this film was even made. Aside from some good special effects, I think the first Chris Reeve film was just fine.

Biggest problem with this film is they tried to recreate Reeves/Kidder with different actors....they would have been better off just going in a completely different direction.

Yeah. And she was no Margot Kidder.

 

[Steelnation]

Wild Hogs

:X

Please don't waste your time

One of the worst movies EVER

 

[El Floppo]

Disturbia- While there was still some doubt as to Lebeef's sanity, the movie had legs- albeit not great. Double amputee in a hurry.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Lives Of Others

Fantastic film. I loved it. Just scary and sad that people live in such oppressive conditions.

 

[guru_007]

Alrighty, watched a few here that have been reviewed before. Now for my opinion:



Blood Diamond

Found this one interesting. Story was a bit overly dramatic, but that's to be expected. I thought Djimon Hounsou did a very good job in this one. I actually think Leonardo DiCarpio was good in this one too. I had a very hard time accepting him as a John Rambo type however, and I think the movie would have worked a bit better if they toned that part of it down. I think the movie does put into context just how easy American's have it, and just how difficult some in other parts of the world must go through in just their day to day struggles. All in all, well done, I'll put it at 6.5/10

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Oy, I don't know what I'm getting myself into sometimes. Oldboy I liked, but it was difficult. This one was a bit easier to take in.....but, I don't know there were a few holes here in there in the movie which I had a hard time following. I will say that this movie is good too, although, I'm going to say it's a notch below Oldboy overall. I did enjoy all of the actors and I felt for all of them, their struggles, what they were willing to do to meet the ends. I'm going to put this one at 6.5/10 also. I would watch either of the movies reviewed here again.

 

[saintfool]

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Oy, I don't know what I'm getting myself into sometimes. Oldboy I liked, but it was difficult. This one was a bit easier to take in.....but, I don't know there were a few holes here in there in the movie which I had a hard time following. I will say that this movie is good too, although, I'm going to say it's a notch below Oldboy overall. I did enjoy all of the actors and I felt for all of them, their struggles, what they were willing to do to meet the ends. I'm going to put this one at 6.5/10 also. I would watch either of the movies reviewed here again.

Yeah, I read the plots for these SK films and find myself with absolutely no interest in watching them. Plotwise, I know they are no different than many of the classic Greek tragedies but the brutality associated with them is borderline pornographic.

 

[El Floppo]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

 

[El Floppo]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

Yes, once. But LFIJ is much better, although I still don't know how I feel about it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

Haven't watched it yet. I heard Iwo Jima was slightly better, so I wanted to see that first.

 

[El Floppo]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

Yes, once. But LFIJ is much better, although I still don't know how I feel about it.

This makes me curious... what do you mean by that?(and unless it's on a plane or HBO, I don't think I'll be seeing anything more than once with the baby around).

 

[fasteddie_21]

Cashback Should be here in a day or two. My gf and I kept seeing the preview on "Nothing but trailers" on HDnet, so this looks really good to me.

Will report back in a couple of days with it.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

Yes, once. But LFIJ is much better, although I still don't know how I feel about it.

This makes me curious... what do you mean by that?(and unless it's on a plane or HBO, I don't think I'll be seeing anything more than once with the baby around).

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

 

[Steelnation]

Yojimbo

Great Flick!

 

[El Floppo]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

Yes, once. But LFIJ is much better, although I still don't know how I feel about it.

This makes me curious... what do you mean by that?(and unless it's on a plane or HBO, I don't think I'll be seeing anything more than once with the baby around).

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

But isn't that kind of the point of the movie- that wars are fought by individuals, and not faceless bogies? Individuals who may not live and breath the doctrines set out by their countries? And maybe why in this case, the protagonists are so Western, as I mentioned earlier?Did you dislike Das Boot too?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

But isn't that kind of the point of the movie- that wars are fought by individuals, and not faceless bogies? Individuals who may not live and breath the doctrines set out by their countries? And maybe why in this case, the protagonists are so Western, as I mentioned earlier?Did you dislike Das Boot too?

Images like this, repeated thousands of times in WWII, make the enemy far from faceless.But the point is well taken. Not all soldiers follow the dogma of their superiors.

Yes, I liked Das Boot.

That's why I'm conflicted.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Letters from Iwo Jima- Beautifully told, filmed and acted. Really compelling job describing the battle from the Japanese side of things while giving enough character back/story to keep me involved. The wife hates Clint Eastwood movies (irrationally, IMO), and I was "home" sick yesterday and decided to PPV it- very happy I did. On the negative side, perhaps too Western a take on things (seemed to make the traditionalist Empirials out to be the bad-guys while making the protagonists either Western or opposed to the traditional state of things), but still managed to bring the "other" side of the war to some kind of focus.

I Look forward to another sick-day so I can get Flags of our Fathers.

I liked this movie a lot.

Is Flags worth watching too?

Yes, once. But LFIJ is much better, although I still don't know how I feel about it.

This makes me curious... what do you mean by that?(and unless it's on a plane or HBO, I don't think I'll be seeing anything more than once with the baby around).

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

But isn't that kind of the point of the movie- that wars are fought by individuals, and not faceless bogies? Individuals who may not live and breath the doctrines set out by their countries? And maybe why in this case, the protagonists are so Western, as I mentioned earlier?

This very conflict is referenced in the film. There's a scene where the Japanese are told that American soldiers are heartless, awful bastards with no courage. And the protagonist comes to realize that is not generally true.

 

[El Floppo]

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

But isn't that kind of the point of the movie- that wars are fought by individuals, and not faceless bogies? Individuals who may not live and breath the doctrines set out by their countries? And maybe why in this case, the protagonists are so Western, as I mentioned earlier?Did you dislike Das Boot too?

Images like this, repeated thousands of times in WWII, make the enemy far from faceless.But the point is well taken. Not all soldiers follow the dogma of their superiors.

Yes, I liked Das Boot.

That's why I'm conflicted.

I would think if that gives you conflict, there'd be a lot of movie genres that might as well- war, mafia, gang, crime, etc. I know some will strike a chord more than others for you subjectively... I guess I don't know where the line would be drawn if this kind of thing is troublesome.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Just saw The Lives of Others.

German film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture last year. Yep, it's the one that beat Pan's Labryinthe and I would dare to say deservedly so. It's about the Easy Germany in the 80's and there was this culture of paranoia and fear cultivated by the Stasis (the secret police.) It's more than that but I don't want to give too much away.

This is probably the best movie I've seen in a long, long time, and I watch a lot of movies. I'll probably watch it again later this week and I usually never watch movies twice. I highly recommend it.

 

[saintfool]

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

But isn't that kind of the point of the movie- that wars are fought by individuals, and not faceless bogies? Individuals who may not live and breath the doctrines set out by their countries? And maybe why in this case, the protagonists are so Western, as I mentioned earlier?Did you dislike Das Boot too?

Images like this, repeated thousands of times in WWII, make the enemy far from faceless.But the point is well taken. Not all soldiers follow the dogma of their superiors.

Yes, I liked Das Boot.

That's why I'm conflicted.

Ever seen Boorman's "Hell in the Pacific" with Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune?

 

[El Floppo]

23- #### sandwich

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm not sure if I should feel sympathy for Japanese soldiers knowing what their bretheren did.

But isn't that kind of the point of the movie- that wars are fought by individuals, and not faceless bogies? Individuals who may not live and breath the doctrines set out by their countries? And maybe why in this case, the protagonists are so Western, as I mentioned earlier?Did you dislike Das Boot too?

Images like this, repeated thousands of times in WWII, make the enemy far from faceless.But the point is well taken. Not all soldiers follow the dogma of their superiors.

Yes, I liked Das Boot.

That's why I'm conflicted.

Ever seen Boorman's "Hell in the Pacific" with Lee Marvin & Toshiro Mifune?

No, but I wouldn't mind it. Mifune is

 

[saintfool]

No, but I wouldn't mind it. Mifune is

Lee Marvin isn't a bad bet either. Watched "Barton Fink" again last night. Such an underrated film by the Coen Bros. Some of their finest writing, I think. A superb performance by John Goodman too. I love how it surprises the audience with the direction it goes.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

No, but I wouldn't mind it. Mifune is

Lee Marvin isn't a bad bet either. Watched "Barton Fink" again last night. Such an underrated film by the Coen Bros. Some of their finest writing, I think. A superb performance by John Goodman too. I love how it surprises the audience with the direction it goes.

Never seen Barton Fink. I should since it has ties to Miller's Crossing.

 

[saintfool]

No, but I wouldn't mind it. Mifune is

Lee Marvin isn't a bad bet either. Watched "Barton Fink" again last night. Such an underrated film by the Coen Bros. Some of their finest writing, I think. A superb performance by John Goodman too. I love how it surprises the audience with the direction it goes.

Never seen Barton Fink. I should since it has ties to Miller's Crossing.

It's one of their "personal" films. It has a strong emotional core along the lines of their earlier films like "Blood Simple" and "Miller's Crossing". Turturro is solid, as well. John Mahoney does a remarkable job of conjuring William Faulkner.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

So I watched Se7en last night for the first time since I saw it in theaters and I'm a little confused.

The current DVD version seems to have an ending different from what I remember seeing in the theater. There's a coda sequence after Mills kills John Doe that I really don't remember - and I'm really good at remembering stuff like that. I remember the movie ending like is in the "test" ending that is included in the DVD - where it fades to black right after Mills kills Doe.

Is it possible that I saw a "test" screening in Minneapolis? Or am I just remembering wrong.

Anyway, I called the movie then "The best movie I never have to see again." Now I remember why. Has there ever been a more dark and depressing movie made?

 

[Tremendous Upside]

So I watched Se7en last night for the first time since I saw it in theaters and I'm a little confused.

The current DVD version seems to have an ending different from what I remember seeing in the theater. There's a coda sequence after Mills kills John Doe that I really don't remember - and I'm really good at remembering stuff like that. I remember the movie ending like is in the "test" ending that is included in the DVD - where it fades to black right after Mills kills Doe.

Is it possible that I saw a "test" screening in Minneapolis? Or am I just remembering wrong.

Anyway, I called the movie then "The best movie I never have to see again." Now I remember why. Has there ever been a more dark and depressing movie made?

That's why I love it...When I'm in a dark mood, it's a perfect film...

Keeps you involved, great acting, awesome atmsospherics...

And, to quote Evan Dando, "Gwyneth's head in a box"

What could be better?