Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (6 Viewers)

[saintfool]

junebug I was very impressed with. great characters and acting. if you arent into character dramas dont bother - not much happens.

this finally made it to the top of my netflix queue. good small film. you're right about not much happening but it is rich with characters. reminded me of my carolina roots. also watched stephen frears' "##### up your ears" which was about the the life and death of avant-garde playwright Joe Orton. gary oldman and alfred molina are the main attractions here and both do good work. i wish it had told me more about Orton's work but it's interesting to see the dynamic between the two.

 

[jdoggydogg]

You Kill Me

Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson about an alcoholic hitman that gets into AA and blah, blah, blah. Meh. Lame. Tries to be a dark comedy but is rarely funny. Luke Wilson cannot act and is pretty much hits the same notes in almost all his movies. This was praised by critics and I am not sure why.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

 

[hooter311]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

If you happen to watch it, let me know what you think, from what I've seen we share opinions on a lot of movies. FWIW I was kind of looking forward to You Kill Me as well.

 

[krista4]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

You still should. Find my review from earlier this year, when I saw it in theatres. I think it's worth seeing. You can be the tiebreaker.

 

[hooter311]

Buddy loaned the wife some DVDs and Street Kings was one of them. Hadn't seen it before. You could pretty much see it all coming from a million miles away. I was wondering just how drunk Reeves character was not to see it coming. Very predictable. Not as bad as I was led to believe but still glad I saw it for free.

Haven't seen it. The trailer looked like a cheap ripoff of Training day to me.

I enjoyed it as a movie, it wasn't a great film by any means but Elroy supplies some of the best material to work with. You could call this a homeless man's LA Confidential or Training Day with a lot less acting. FW's acting didn't really fit in this movie, but its there, they could have done a lot worse.

 

[hooter311]

Since we never really got an "in-theatres now" thread off the ground, I'll just use this thread to mention I saw Redbelt yesterday and ask that if anyone else has seen it, I'd like to hear your opinion and run a couple of questions past you.

I love Mamet, but this is a renter. Did you like it?

I love Mamet, too. I'd give it a 4/5, so I definitely thought it was good, but didn't seem to love it as much as my boyfriend did (though I think he's an even bigger Mamet fan than I). It was unusual for a Mamet film--while the dialogue was good, this was more of an action film than I've seen him do. He did an amazing job with the fight scenes--they seemed very realistic and not-at-all silly or overly contrived. I'm a sucker for films about honor, and this was basically a very good samurai/honor-type film. Also, I think he got better performances out of the actors than he normally does--Emily Mortimer is always a favorite, and the protagonist was extremely well-acted. Even Tim Allen was quite good. Maybe it helped that Rebecca Pidgeon had only a very tiny role.All in all, I'd say worth seeing now rather than waiting on a rental.

Krista, I found your review and recall reading it. This was one of the reasons why it was so high on my list to watch on it's DVD release. I agree with you that the martial arts scenes were realistically done and knowing Mamet I'm sure he did more than his share of research but here were my problems with it, I would be very interested to see what made you like it that much more than myself. mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

To start with, I despised the way that Mortimer's character was introduced. One minute she is driving in the rain and the next minute she is firing the gun through the window. I know she had the history of being raped that would make her grab for the weapon so fast, but if she was that skiddish would she have done more initially than just open the door and ask her question? It just seemed like a very big jump in character for a lawyer to grab a gun and fire it in that situation.

The scene where he puts her in a headlock and has her stab him to deal with her pain was great, and the highlight of the film.

I'm a big fan of films regarding honor as well and they usually really get my blood going, but I just couldn't understand why the cop would committ sucuide and leave his wife in debt over his martial arts dojo. He just didn't seem like a completely fleshed out character to me. I know the nuances of a Mamet film led us to believe that it was not as big of a deal initially as it turned out to be once the court case was involved, but would a cop with that much honor go try to pawn a $20,000 stolen watch without having someone in the department check it out first? It just seems like the situations that the entire plot is built are were inplausible to me.

And the biggest one, why would the martial arts master give him the most covented belt in the world without speaking to him or knowing his intentions based on a fight on a entrance walkway?

It also was a more than a little conveinent to have his wife take out a $30,000 cash loan from a loan shark over a business deal discussed over dinner the first time she met Allen's wife and her associate.

Everything was there for it to be a great movie for me, but the pieces just didn't add up and Mamet's script just didn't do it for me like he usually does.*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

Interested in your thoughts Krista or anyone else, definitely a polarizing film though.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

If you happen to watch it, let me know what you think, from what I've seen we share opinions on a lot of movies. FWIW I was kind of looking forward to You Kill Me as well.

I make it a point to watch Mamet movies, so I will see it eventually just to see it. You Kill Me wasn't horrible. It's just not as clever as it thinks it is.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

You still should. Find my review from earlier this year, when I saw it in theatres. I think it's worth seeing. You can be the tiebreaker.

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

 

[QUEZILLA]

Also saw In Bruges and loved it.

It's really rare when a film raved about by the critics is actually better than expected.

Good story, photography, acting and something else I noticed - it was the least predictable movie I've seen in a long time.

It also had a mix of violence and laugh out humor that reminded me of Fargo.

well, this finally popped up in our queue and we watched it over the weekend. really very good. colin farrell has a nice comic touch. brendan gleeson really holds this movie together though. he's done so many blah, big hollywood movies in recent years (harry potter franchise, "troy", "cold mountain", etc") that i'd forgotten the sly work he's done in little films like "the general" and "i went down". both as a director and writer, mcdonough shows a pretty sure hand even when the plot puts him in a corner. good work all the way around.

I finally saw it this weekend, and thought it was a 7/10. A little slow for my liking.

 

[tdoss]

Just watched "The Host"...it's a Korean creature flick.

If you enjoy monster flicks at all...you should watch this...it's worth the rental. It can get a little slow in parts but I'm very surprised at the quality.

 

[Bob Magaw]

watched year of the dragon for the first time in while...

directed by michael cimino, mickey rourke fights corruption in chinatown, facing off against a ruthless, up 'n coming, young, westernized gangster who pits his old guard chinese mafia bosses & rival gangs against each other to seize control of the lucrative drug trade...

uneven & not always believably rendered characters & plot, but decent cop genre movie that had its moments...

 

[tdoss]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

You still should. Find my review from earlier this year, when I saw it in theatres. I think it's worth seeing. You can be the tiebreaker.

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

Have you ever seen the movie, "House of Games"?Seen what?

House of Games...have you seen it?

The movie?

Yes...House of Games is a movie...have you seen it?

Mamet has some of the lamest damned dialogue ever put to print/screen. He's got a great mind for movie-making...but he really should have nothing to do with the dialogue and damned sure should never be left alone to direct.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

There was one about a college student and her professor that starred William H. Macy and some from frizzy-haired girl--"Oleanna". The plot was about whether he had sexually harassed her, or not. Awful.Just awful.Overwritten, preachy, smug dialogue.

 

[hooter311]

Just watched "The Host"...it's a Korean creature flick.

If you enjoy monster flicks at all...you should watch this...it's worth the rental. It can get a little slow in parts but I'm very surprised at the quality.

I can second that this is a worth a watch, it has good effects and a twisted sense of humor, perfect for a creature flick.

 

[saintfool]

watched year of the dragon for the first time in while...

directed by michael cimino, mickey rourke fights corruption in chinatown, facing off against a ruthless, up 'n coming, young, westernized gangster who pits his old guard chinese mafia bosses & rival gangs against each other to seize control of the lucrative drug trade...



uneven & not always believably rendered characters & plot, but decent cop genre movie that had its moments...

oft-heard cimino criticism that spans pretty much all his work. it's been a long time since i saw this film but i remember liking it.

 

[El Floppo]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

You still should. Find my review from earlier this year, when I saw it in theatres. I think it's worth seeing. You can be the tiebreaker.

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

Have you ever seen the movie, "House of Games"?Seen what?

House of Games...have you seen it?

The movie?

Yes...House of Games is a movie...have you seen it?

Mamet has some of the lamest damned dialogue ever put to print/screen. He's got a great mind for movie-making...but he really should have nothing to do with the dialogue and damned sure should never be left alone to direct.

Thank you x gajillion.Dialogue? The lamest diaglogue. Lamest? Dialogue. Lamest Dialogue?

Actor friends swear he's a genius writer, but I can't get past the double talk. Still like most of his movies, however, including Heist. (House of Games, I loved. I loved it. The House of Games I loved.)

 

[El Floppo]

Caught a handful of movies this week (baby's been sleeping better).

In Bruges... For such a slight movie without a lot of character arc, the characters were amazingly well developed, thanks to the fantastic writing and smart acting. Loved the dual relationships between the central character to Farrell and Fiennes. Add that to some beautiful AD and cinematography (the city of Bruges should give the film-makers beer and chocolates for life) and this was a real winner for me. Fell just a bit short with some of the story line becoming pat to make up for the lack of character arcs, but for sure.

Tropic Thunder... I know I laughed a lot- especially at Downey Jr, who was amazing (am I crazy for thinking possible nomination?), but 2 days later not a lot of resonance. I know it was all meant to be laughably offensive, but for some reason Tom Cruise's producer became unfunny to me . That said, I'd recommend it as one of the funnier movies (not as funny to me as In Bruges, but still funny) out there.

??? ... I'm spacing on the third, which doesn't speak well for it. A rental that's been talked about in here favorably, but I felt pretty meh about it. Can't believe I can't remember the name... stupid baby.

Oh... also did a third time round with Once ( Krista) which showed up on HBO last night. I liked it fine the first time, but thought there wasn't enough going on emotionally between the characters. Second time thought there was even less, although I still loved the music. For some reason, this time, it all just clicked for me. Felt like the beginning germ of a relationship was really well played out between the two- the tension of what might be that hangs on every action and word... really nice. And the music is still great.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Cruise cameo was the worst part of Tropic Thunder, IMO

Dancing and cursing around in a fat suit just ain't funny

Thought McConaughey's role was much funnier, as a comparison

Glad the emotional resonance of Once registered there El Floppo

I really think it is such a subtle film that it is easy to be underwhelmed by or overlooked depending on your mood

When you are in the right mood, though, it hits ALL the right notes, IMO

 

[jdoggydogg]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

You still should. Find my review from earlier this year, when I saw it in theatres. I think it's worth seeing. You can be the tiebreaker.

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

Have you ever seen the movie, "House of Games"?Seen what?

House of Games...have you seen it?

The movie?

Yes...House of Games is a movie...have you seen it?

Mamet has some of the lamest damned dialogue ever put to print/screen. He's got a great mind for movie-making...but he really should have nothing to do with the dialogue and damned sure should never be left alone to direct.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote, and yet I like House of Games. But Mamet definitely gets wooden performances out of his actors. I don't think it's a coincidence that Mamet didn't direct his best movie (Glengarry Glenn Ross).

 

[jdoggydogg]

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

There was one about a college student and her professor that starred William H. Macy and some from frizzy-haired girl--"Oleanna". The plot was about whether he had sexually harassed her, or not. Awful.Just awful.Overwritten, preachy, smug dialogue.

I didn't see it. Spartan is a good recent Mamet movie.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times. I thought it was better than the very popular Superbad.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times. I thought it was better than the very popular Superbad.

I just really wish they could find a way for these movies NOT to tail off in the last 1/2 hour or so.

 

[tdoss]

Redbelt

Martial arts movies usually hold my attention, and I'm sometimes impressed by Mamet. I liked The Heist more than most people, but this was the worst movie I've seen in some time. I wish I could compare it to The Eye, Strange Wilderness, or Evan Almighty (The three worst movies I could think of released in the last 2 years), but this one made me despise it even more because it thinks and acts like it is an intelligent and quality film, its definitly not. Mamet's hailed dialogue basically amounts to a lot of people repeating themselves or giving issues way more importance than they would ever mean to somebody. The plot to Never Back Down made more sense, and thats not much of an accomplishment. Add an unsatisfying ending and the least action ever in a 2 hour movie about martial arts competitions and you have one big waste of time.

Too bad. I wanted to see this.I liked Heist, as well.

You still should. Find my review from earlier this year, when I saw it in theatres. I think it's worth seeing. You can be the tiebreaker.

I've never seen a Mamet movie that I hated, so it's possible

Have you ever seen the movie, "House of Games"?Seen what?

House of Games...have you seen it?

The movie?

Yes...House of Games is a movie...have you seen it?

Mamet has some of the lamest damned dialogue ever put to print/screen. He's got a great mind for movie-making...but he really should have nothing to do with the dialogue and damned sure should never be left alone to direct.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote, and yet I like House of Games. But Mamet definitely gets wooden performances out of his actors. I don't think it's a coincidence that Mamet didn't direct his best movie (Glengarry Glenn Ross).

You wanna know what I'm doing?I'm watching Redbelt right now.

I'm sitting on my couch watching Redbelt as we speak.

I've been sitting on my couch...in my house...watching it for about an hour now.

I'm having a sandwich and I'm going to finish watching Redbelt because it's on...right now...on my T.V.

 

[jamny]

Recent viewings:

Dan in Real Life: I'm a big Steve Carell fan and this movie didn't disappoint. Many people think he's just a one trick pony but he really shows a lot of depth with heartfelt movies like this. An enjoyable flick that hits home with anyone that has loved and lost and loved again. I actually don't hate Dane Cook as a comedian but he's really a bad actor. Good ensemble cast, great location shots, nice story. 3/5

Juno: I kinda thought I wouldn't like this after reading reviews. I thought all the wise-cracking responses that I heard of would be too much but I really liked this movie. Great ensemble cast, great writing, witty dialogue, Jason Bateman was great. Much better than expected. 4/5

Elizabeth Not something I would have rented, it just happened to be on TV. I almost turned it off early on but I am so glad I kept watching. Amazing performance by Cate Blanchett. Great all-around movie, very surprised how much I liked it. I was glad I paused it a few times to take care of some things so I could fast forward through some of the dancing scenes. Outside of that though, highly recommended. How was the sequel? 4/5

 

[jdoggydogg]

Elizabeth Not something I would have rented, it just happened to be on TV. I almost turned it off early on but I am so glad I kept watching. Amazing performance by Cate Blanchett. Great all-around movie, very surprised how much I liked it. I was glad I paused it a few times to take care of some things so I could fast forward through some of the dancing scenes. Outside of that though, highly recommended. How was the sequel? 4/5

I love that movie.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times. I thought it was better than the very popular Superbad.

I just really wish they could find a way for these movies NOT to tail off in the last 1/2 hour or so.

Sure. I do think this oen finished much better than Knocked Up, though.

 

[El Floppo]

Elizabeth Not something I would have rented, it just happened to be on TV. I almost turned it off early on but I am so glad I kept watching. Amazing performance by Cate Blanchett. Great all-around movie, very surprised how much I liked it. I was glad I paused it a few times to take care of some things so I could fast forward through some of the dancing scenes. Outside of that though, highly recommended. How was the sequel? 4/5

I love that movie.

Me too.Too bad Elizabeth 2 Electric Boogaloo was el suck.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Elizabeth Not something I would have rented, it just happened to be on TV. I almost turned it off early on but I am so glad I kept watching. Amazing performance by Cate Blanchett. Great all-around movie, very surprised how much I liked it. I was glad I paused it a few times to take care of some things so I could fast forward through some of the dancing scenes. Outside of that though, highly recommended. How was the sequel? 4/5

I love that movie.

Me too.Too bad Elizabeth 2 Electric Boogaloo was el suck.

Yeah. I hear Part Deux sucks.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times. I thought it was better than the very popular Superbad.

I just really wish they could find a way for these movies NOT to tail off in the last 1/2 hour or so.

Sure. I do think this oen finished much better than Knocked Up, though.

touche

 

[El Floppo]

The Bank Job- that was the one I couldn%t remember seeing... had to go to my Netflix cue just know to remember. not bad at all, but for some reason fell kind of meh for me. I think i was expecting too much after reading some article (NYer?) about the story behind the movie. Only real flaw for me was the score, which started as sinister, mysterious and thrilling when nothing was going on, and basically just stayed that way. The violence kinda came at me from left field, as I felt like I was watching something more comedic and satirical. Felt like the movie kinda switched tones of a sudden. Also loved the timing of their collective nap . Meh... it was fine, I guess.

 

[El Floppo]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times. I thought it was better than the very popular Superbad.

I just really wish they could find a way for these movies NOT to tail off in the last 1/2 hour or so.

Sure. I do think this oen finished much better than Knocked Up, though.

touche

Hey Jdog... you gonna let him call you that?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I watched The Orphanage last night, and it was fantastic. I originally thought that it was directed by Guillermo del Toro, which is what interested me in the first place, only to find that he was the producer instead, but it was really really good. It's not really scary, more creepy than anything else, and moving at the same time. One of the better movies I have seen in a while. (5/5)

Very good description. I think they marketed this movie poorly, choosing to put the emphasis on the horror aspect.This is not a horror movie. Sure there are suspenseful moments, but more like a Hitchcock/Rod Serling story than anything Friday the 13th/Halloween/Freddie Kruger type.

I think the ending is terrific. This is a great movie that should be moved to the top of any movie lover's queue.

8.5/10

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Bank Job- that was the one I couldn%t remember seeing... had to go to my Netflix cue just know to remember. not bad at all, but for some reason fell kind of meh for me. I think i was expecting too much after reading some article (NYer?) about the story behind the movie. Only real flaw for me was the score, which started as sinister, mysterious and thrilling when nothing was going on, and basically just stayed that way. The violence kinda came at me from left field, as I felt like I was watching something more comedic and satirical. Felt like the movie kinda switched tones of a sudden. Also loved the timing of their collective nap . Meh... it was fine, I guess.

Worked for me. Nothing groundbreaking. But a solid execution all around.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Pineapple Express

Pretty funny. Mostly dumb stoner jokes, but I laughed several times. I thought it was better than the very popular Superbad.

I just really wish they could find a way for these movies NOT to tail off in the last 1/2 hour or so.

Sure. I do think this oen finished much better than Knocked Up, though.

touche

Hey Jdog... you gonna let him call you that?

It's taken care of. I sent him a threatening PM.

 

[tdoss]

I watched The Orphanage last night, and it was fantastic. I originally thought that it was directed by Guillermo del Toro, which is what interested me in the first place, only to find that he was the producer instead, but it was really really good. It's not really scary, more creepy than anything else, and moving at the same time. One of the better movies I have seen in a while. (5/5)

Very good description. I think they marketed this movie poorly, choosing to put the emphasis on the horror aspect.This is not a horror movie. Sure there are suspenseful moments, but more like a Hitchcock/Rod Serling story than anything Friday the 13th/Halloween/Freddie Kruger type.

I think the ending is terrific. This is a great movie that should be moved to the top of any movie lover's queue.

8.5/10

I agree with every word of this post.

 

[jamny]

I watched The Orphanage last night, and it was fantastic. I originally thought that it was directed by Guillermo del Toro, which is what interested me in the first place, only to find that he was the producer instead, but it was really really good. It's not really scary, more creepy than anything else, and moving at the same time. One of the better movies I have seen in a while. (5/5)

Very good description. I think they marketed this movie poorly, choosing to put the emphasis on the horror aspect.This is not a horror movie. Sure there are suspenseful moments, but more like a Hitchcock/Rod Serling story than anything Friday the 13th/Halloween/Freddie Kruger type.

I think the ending is terrific. This is a great movie that should be moved to the top of any movie lover's queue.

8.5/10

I agree with every word of this post.

Just put it to the top of the list. Preview looks good, I don't even remember it in theaters.

 

[jojometal]

Also saw In Bruges and loved it.

It's really rare when a film raved about by the critics is actually better than expected.

Good story, photography, acting and something else I noticed - it was the least predictable movie I've seen in a long time.

It also had a mix of violence and laugh out humor that reminded me of Fargo.

well, this finally popped up in our queue and we watched it over the weekend. really very good. colin farrell has a nice comic touch. brendan gleeson really holds this movie together though. he's done so many blah, big hollywood movies in recent years (harry potter franchise, "troy", "cold mountain", etc") that i'd forgotten the sly work he's done in little films like "the general" and "i went down". both as a director and writer, mcdonough shows a pretty sure hand even when the plot puts him in a corner. good work all the way around.

I finally saw it this weekend, and thought it was a 7/10. A little slow for my liking.

Wife and I saw In Bruges tonight, after trying to pick it up a few times at blockbuster over the last couple weeks. I tried to avoid reading plot info and reviews, but did hear that people liked it and that it was reviewed well by critics. Unfortunately, all I knew was that hit men were sent to Bruges after a hit.

The cover used the words "fun" and "hilarious", which helped it pass the wife test. Few funny scenes, and a very un-funny story.

May have been better without expectations that it would be a more traditional comedy, but... can't take the expectations back.

 

[roadkill1292]

Also saw In Bruges and loved it.

It's really rare when a film raved about by the critics is actually better than expected.

Good story, photography, acting and something else I noticed - it was the least predictable movie I've seen in a long time.

It also had a mix of violence and laugh out humor that reminded me of Fargo.

well, this finally popped up in our queue and we watched it over the weekend. really very good. colin farrell has a nice comic touch. brendan gleeson really holds this movie together though. he's done so many blah, big hollywood movies in recent years (harry potter franchise, "troy", "cold mountain", etc") that i'd forgotten the sly work he's done in little films like "the general" and "i went down". both as a director and writer, mcdonough shows a pretty sure hand even when the plot puts him in a corner. good work all the way around.

I finally saw it this weekend, and thought it was a 7/10. A little slow for my liking.

Wife and I saw In Bruges tonight, after trying to pick it up a few times at blockbuster over the last couple weeks. I tried to avoid reading plot info and reviews, but did hear that people liked it and that it was reviewed well by critics. Unfortunately, all I knew was that hit men were sent to Bruges after a hit.

The cover used the words "fun" and "hilarious", which helped it pass the wife test. Few funny scenes, and a very un-funny story.

May have been better without expectations that it would be a more traditional comedy, but... can't take the expectations back.

This is another in a long line of flicks that many here seem to love but I don't get. I think there's something wrong with me.

 

[El Floppo]

Also saw In Bruges and loved it.

It's really rare when a film raved about by the critics is actually better than expected.

Good story, photography, acting and something else I noticed - it was the least predictable movie I've seen in a long time.

It also had a mix of violence and laugh out humor that reminded me of Fargo.

well, this finally popped up in our queue and we watched it over the weekend. really very good. colin farrell has a nice comic touch. brendan gleeson really holds this movie together though. he's done so many blah, big hollywood movies in recent years (harry potter franchise, "troy", "cold mountain", etc") that i'd forgotten the sly work he's done in little films like "the general" and "i went down". both as a director and writer, mcdonough shows a pretty sure hand even when the plot puts him in a corner. good work all the way around.

I finally saw it this weekend, and thought it was a 7/10. A little slow for my liking.

Wife and I saw In Bruges tonight, after trying to pick it up a few times at blockbuster over the last couple weeks. I tried to avoid reading plot info and reviews, but did hear that people liked it and that it was reviewed well by critics. Unfortunately, all I knew was that hit men were sent to Bruges after a hit.

The cover used the words "fun" and "hilarious", which helped it pass the wife test. Few funny scenes, and a very un-funny story.

May have been better without expectations that it would be a more traditional comedy, but... can't take the expectations back.

This is another in a long line of flicks that many here seem to love but I don't get. I think there's something wrong with me.

Totally agree. There is something wrong with you.

 

[jamny]

Also saw In Bruges and loved it.

It's really rare when a film raved about by the critics is actually better than expected.

Good story, photography, acting and something else I noticed - it was the least predictable movie I've seen in a long time.

It also had a mix of violence and laugh out humor that reminded me of Fargo.

well, this finally popped up in our queue and we watched it over the weekend. really very good. colin farrell has a nice comic touch. brendan gleeson really holds this movie together though. he's done so many blah, big hollywood movies in recent years (harry potter franchise, "troy", "cold mountain", etc") that i'd forgotten the sly work he's done in little films like "the general" and "i went down". both as a director and writer, mcdonough shows a pretty sure hand even when the plot puts him in a corner. good work all the way around.

I finally saw it this weekend, and thought it was a 7/10. A little slow for my liking.

Wife and I saw In Bruges tonight, after trying to pick it up a few times at blockbuster over the last couple weeks. I tried to avoid reading plot info and reviews, but did hear that people liked it and that it was reviewed well by critics. Unfortunately, all I knew was that hit men were sent to Bruges after a hit.

The cover used the words "fun" and "hilarious", which helped it pass the wife test. Few funny scenes, and a very un-funny story.

May have been better without expectations that it would be a more traditional comedy, but... can't take the expectations back.

This is another in a long line of flicks that many here seem to love but I don't get. I think there's something wrong with me.

Didn't like In Bruges either. Slow and boring.I thought Teeth would have been a fun dark comedy. It took way too long to develop (we know the premise!) and just didn't do justice to a great idea.

 

[belljr]

Saw Live Free or Die Hard.Started off very good, but the second half fell into ridiculousness.I did like the hot asian ### kicking girl.

I enjoyed it right up until the "plane" part. Just saw it this weekend on HBO - I count that as a "rental". I had low expectations going in. Still an ok popcorn flickI find I enjoy movies more if I wait for them on HBO/Showtime etc or even paying for them onDemand. Even know I pay for the channel or spend 4.99 for the movie, I'm not expecting as much since I didn't just shell out $30 for a nigh at the movies.

 

[saintfool]

caught a double feature over the weekend.

"pineapple express" - this was a pretty bad movie. a few moments here and there but, overall, one of the worst films of the summer.

"tropic thunder" - pretty good. ben stiller is ben stiller so there were few surprises in the storytelling. that said, robert downey jr was hysterical and completely stole the show. even jack black was good in an underwritten and thankless role. the tom cruise shtick was pretty unfunny to me, for whatever reason. mccaughney was good for a single scene but not much more than that.

 

[guru_007]

Watched a bunch of movies the past few weeks. Briefly from worst to best:

Beowulf - The cgi/cartoon didn't work for me as well as a movie like 300 did. Wasn't the worst watch in the world, but all in all I didn't care for it that much. 2.0 / 5.0

This is England - Came into this one with a bit higher hopes, and it fell a bit flat. I enjoyed the story and the characters well enough, but I felt like a bunch of interpersonal stuff was glanced over and that was more crucial to the movie. Also, too much dead space with nothing going on, felt like they were trying to stretch the movie out to 90 minutes, instead of filling it with content. Decent acting, decent insight into the 'allure' of a gang. Wanted more. 2.5 / 5.0



Ocean's Thirteen - Much better than the second one, about on par with the first. A bit too much time spent on Matt Damon's nose routine....and sometimes there seemed to be too much going on without enough explanation, spent too much time on stuff not relating to the main theme, i.e. Casey Afleck revoluntaire in Mexico. I mean, they spend a lot of time with this elaborate con and a lot of it is well thought out and timed (and of course unrealistic), but it's all slick, quick moving, I like that. Was a bit sad to watch Bernie Mac in there too, such a young man. 2.5 / 5.0

Hitman - I really enjoy watching Timothy Olyphant movies now I though this movie was a decent enough movie, much better than I expected. Kind of like a James Bond movie, without the sophisticated plot, and gratuitous sex (sure, we can't have it all). Lots of gadgets, explosions, assassinations, etc.. I also liked the foreign locales, gave the movie a nice feel, a bit refreshing. 3.0 / 5.0

Into the Wild - Liked it. Not too much to add, although yeah, it does give the feel of a whiny rich kid to it, but I enjoyed it all. Nice sound track, nice locations, just a nice feel to it. Can't put my finger on exactly why I liked it, but I do think that within the first 30 minutes you are going to know whether you are going to like it or hate it. 4.0/5.0

There Will be Blood Wow. I was expecting a snore fest, came into this one with very low expectations. Not a huge PTA fan to be honest. But boy oh boy, this movie had some good stuff. Not a masterpiece for me, never going to hit my top 10 list of all time, but definitely a much stronger showing than expected. Score it a 4.0 / 5.0

 

[belljr]

Watched a bunch of movies the past few weeks. Briefly from worst to best:

Ocean's Thirteen - Much better than the second one, about on par with the first. A bit too much time spent on Matt Damon's nose routine....and sometimes there seemed to be too much going on without enough explanation, spent too much time on stuff not relating to the main theme, i.e. Casey Afleck revoluntaire in Mexico. I mean, they spend a lot of time with this elaborate con and a lot of it is well thought out and timed (and of course unrealistic), but it's all slick, quick moving, I like that. Was a bit sad to watch Bernie Mac in there too, such a young man. 2.5 / 5.0

I thought this too, but I think the point was to get the brother into the plant with ease and then too know exactly which batch was loaded. It was going to be the first one coming out. I could be way wrong and it's not that important but that's how I saw it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I think the entire Ocean's series stinks.

 

[snogger]

I think the entire Ocean's series stinks.

Thank God! I was beginning to think I was the only one that watched the first one and thought

 

[jdoggydogg]

I think the entire Ocean's series stinks.

Thank God! I was beginning to think I was the only one that watched the first one and thought

Lots of slick art direction and clever writing. But pretty vapid ultimately.

 

[belljr]

I think the entire Ocean's series stinks.

Thank God! I was beginning to think I was the only one that watched the first one and thought

Lots of slick art direction and clever writing. But pretty vapid ultimately.

I thought the first one (with Pitt et al) was decent.I like the original better than the current 3 myself.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I think the entire Ocean's series stinks.

Thank God! I was beginning to think I was the only one that watched the first one and thought

Lots of slick art direction and clever writing. But pretty vapid ultimately.

I thought the first one (with Pitt et al) was decent.I like the original better than the current 3 myself.

I haven't seen the Rat Pack original, but it has to be better.