What was the last movie you watched?

[LikeyouToMe]

I saw Tangled and loved it. It was adorable, and also as innocent as a children's film should be, funny so that both kids and adults could appreciate the jokes without their being crass or without condescending to either audience. I didn't care much for the songs, even though I generally like Alan Menkin, but that worked too as I didn't feel like it was trying to take itself too seriously as a musical.

Tangled is so so awesome. I'm so looking forward to seeing Frozen!

 

[Sparticus]

"One Hour Photo"

Creepy thriller starring Robbin Williams as a worker drone at a large retail outlet's One Hour Photo dept. Rated about 3 out of 5 stars, Robbin Williams makes the character come alive and in the end, elicits sympathy for the character's off the deep end obsession. 2nd time I watched this and since I worked in various jobs in the photo film industry, it had special meaning for me [except for the ending.] The struggles of a worker drone in a bleery Corporate retail world are acted out brilliantly with Williams narrative voice over.

Recommended if you like Robbin Williams, film photography or the struggle against the Retail Corporate environment.



MOVIE QUOTE:

Seymour "Sy" Parrish: "And if these pictures have anything important to say to future generations, it's this: I was here. I existed. I was young, I was happy, and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my picture."

 

[Dusty285]

This morning, December 15, first showing:

"The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug"

Excellent. Acting and story flow perhaps better than 'Hobbit 1.'

'Nuff said.

 

[dudeman]

I saw Tangled and loved it. It was adorable, and also as innocent as a children's film should be, funny so that both kids and adults could appreciate the jokes without their being crass or without condescending to either audience. I didn't care much for the songs, even though I generally like Alan Menkin, but that worked too as I didn't feel like it was trying to take itself too seriously as a musical.

No offense intended, Wyv, I just wanted to comment on this. People who work in animation hate seeing it referred to as a children's medium because it implies that adults can't enjoy it without having to justify their enjoyment. Most animation is made with a general audience in mind and aside from stuff that's obviously for adults (Family Guy, South Park, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, etc) or obviously for young children (Dora The Explorer, Special Agent Oso, The Backyardigans, etc), most animated shows/movies aren't aiming for a particular age group. Take Animaniacs as a for instance: You watch it as a kid and enjoy the slapstick, but when you grow up and watch it again, it's an ENTIRELY different show. For a more recent example, ParaNorman. Kids can watch it and enjoy the spooky story, but to an adult viewer, there's a lot going on in that film that kids aren't going to see.

 

[wyverary]

No offense intended, Wyv, I just wanted to comment on this. People who work in animation hate seeing it referred to as a children's medium because it implies that adults can't enjoy it without having to justify their enjoyment. Most animation is made with a general audience in mind and aside from stuff that's obviously for adults (Family Guy, South Park, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, etc) or obviously for young children (Dora The Explorer, Special Agent Oso, The Backyardigans, etc), most animated shows/movies aren't aiming for a particular age group. Take Animaniacs as a for instance: You watch it as a kid and enjoy the slapstick, but when you grow up and watch it again, it's an ENTIRELY different show. For a more recent example, ParaNorman. Kids can watch it and enjoy the spooky story, but to an adult viewer, there's a lot going on in that film that kids aren't going to see.

I was under the impression that that is precisely what I said...ah well.

 

[balder]

I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey before I go see Desolation of Smaug next week. I liked. I do want to see what happens next.

I loooved the Desolation of Smaug. Can't remember an awesome dragon character since DragonHeart.

 

[rhubarbo]

I saw 'Beyond the Black Rainbow' - pretty bizarro 80's-ish artsy film on a cult. Pretty interesting although slow paced. I loved the atmosphere.

Beyond The Black Rainbow (Trailer) - YouTube


I also saw World's End which I thought was brilliant. Simon Pegg is great.

 

[Dustman319]

I loooved the Desolation of Smaug. Can't remember an awesome dragon character since DragonHeart.

I remember Dragonheart growing up with Sean Connery as the voice of the dragon. I liked it.

 

[Soup]

Philadelphia (Tom Hanks & Denzel Washington)

 

[ifightdragons]

That's funny, I just watched it too, and my thoughts are the exact opposite.

Mind you I thought the first was pretty bad too.

This morning, December 15, first showing:

"The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug"

Excellent. Acting and story flow perhaps better than 'Hobbit 1.'

'Nuff said.

 

[Sparticus]

"Adaptation"

Excellent head trip...I've never seen Meryl Streep look so sexy...Nicolas Cage plays a screen writer. The movie keeps you guessing as the plot opens up in several different directions.

"What a bewilderingly brilliant and entertaining movie this is--a confounding story about orchid thieves and screenwriters, elegant New Yorkers and scruffy swamp rats, truth and fiction. "Adaptation" is a movie that leaves you breathless with curiosity, as it teases itself with the directions it might take. To watch the film is to be actively involved in the challenge of its creation."

Adaptation Movie Review & Film Summary (2002) | Roger Ebert

 

[ifightdragons]

Seriously on my list of favorite movies. Nicolas Cage gives the underrated performance of his lifetime!

And yes, Meryl Streep is damn sexy in it.

"Adaptation"

Excellent head trip...I've never seen Meryl Streep look so sexy...Nicolas Cage plays a screen writer. The movie keeps you guessing as the plot opens up in several different directions.

 

[Blade_Runner]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 3D

It was good, very good. Faultless acting and fantastic special effects. One thing did rather sadden me a bit; Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh created Tauriel. It's this kind of thing that infuriates me when people add extras to the original story. As many folk will know, the Hobbit is a small book compared to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So creating THREE films out of a tiny book shows Jackson to be milking it for as much as it's worth. So in essence he's doing it for the money. Plus, not only that, but the Hobbit films will be forever tainted and never the pure substance the author intended it to be. However, I do take into account that the film creators would need to interpret Tolkien's work but that doesn't mean alter the story!

To conclude, it was impressive as a lone film but when placed beside it's predecessors, it's a let down.

I give it 3 stars out of 5

 

[LikeyouToMe]

Currently watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II

 

[dudeman]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 3D

It was good, very good. Faultless acting and fantastic special effects. One thing did rather sadden me a bit; Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh created Tauriel. It's this kind of thing that infuriates me when people add extras to the original story. As many folk will know, the Hobbit is a small book compared to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So creating THREE films out of a tiny book shows Jackson to be milking it for as much as it's worth. So in essence he's doing it for the money. Plus, not only that, but the Hobbit films will be forever tainted and never the pure substance the author intended it to be. However, I do take into account that the film creators would need to interpret Tolkien's work but that doesn't mean alter the story!

To conclude, it was impressive as a lone film but when placed beside it's predecessors, it's a let down.

I give it 3 stars out of 5

If you don't care for the live action trilogy, try the animated film by Rankin Bass. While some plot points are missing to get the story down to 80 minutes, overall it's a very faithful adaptation with excellent music and a great cast that includes Hans Conried as Thorin and John Huston as Gandalf.

 

[IContainMultitudes]

These 2-minute short films that were finalists in a competition (I count them as movies):

BBC Radio 5 live - Kermode and Mayo's Film Review - Well Done U

My favorite one was "Crisis Management."

 

[King_Oni]

Metallica: Through the Never

Which actually just felt like an extended music video. That was to be expected I guess.

 

[Yoshi08]

Devils pass. About the mysterious unsolved murder of nine Russian ski hikers dying in the snowy mountains of Russia in 1959. One hiker was found dead with her eyes and tongue missing another hiker had a crushed skull another with cracked ribs. But none of them showed any sign of trauma or defensive wounds. No one knows what killed there hikers. They all had high amounts of radiation on their clothing.
Some think it was UFOs.
Great movie though.

 

[Blade_Runner]

These 2-minute short films that were finalists in a competition (I count them as movies):

BBC Radio 5 live - Kermode and Mayo's Film Review - Well Done U

My favorite one was "Crisis Management."

Good to see another fellow Kermode and Mayo listener Probably the best review show in existence

 

[dudeman]

Animal Crossing: The Movie

I had to go out of my way to find this one because it was unfortunately never released outside of Japan, which baffles me since the games are popular pretty much everywhere. Have any anime fans here heard of the animated Mario film from the 80s? Well, this is a similar sort of thing. It was released around the same time as the DS game and based primarily on it. Since the game has no plot to speak of, the film has a sort of slice of life format showing various vignettes about a new resident named Ai and how she adjusts to life in Animal Village over the course of a year. Considering that the film is only 90 minutes, they managed to include a surprisingly large amount of stuff from the game and many popular characters make an appearance. It's not a great film, no Studio Ghibli quality here, but it is a good one and if you're a fan of the games or of anime in general, it's well worth tracking down the fansubbed version (a fandub also exists, but as I haven't seen it, I can't attest to it's quality). Three and a half stars out of five.