So I decided to look at my Netflix history, and I thought I'd give some ideas for bored movie watchers and some warnings to those who don't want to waste their time
So I decided to look at my Netflix history, and I thought I'd give some ideas for bored movie watchers and some warnings to those who don't want to waste their time
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Original Swedish versions) - Starts out great but ends blah. The first movie is very well done, the second less so, and the third is obviously there to tie everything up into a happy ending. Like most strange characters, the more you learn about Lizbeth Salander's past the less interesting she becomes. I'll recommend the first one, after that you're on you own.
Terribly Happy - Nice twisty little Danish film noir/thrilller. Recommended.
Red State - I have no idea what Kevin Smith thought he was doing here, and judging from the results he didn't either. Skip it.
The Black Dahlia - This could have been an interesting movie with a different director and a different lead. But Brian DePalma made a hash of directing it and Josh Hartnett can't carry a movie. So skip it.
Trollhunter - Shaky cam and somewhat slow moving, but I found it entertaining. The Brothers Grimm meets Cloverdale. They did a good job with a microscopic budget, and Otto Jespersen is very good in the lead role. Recommended.
Rare Exports - You'll never look at Santa and his elves the same way again. I didn't care for the ending, but everything leading up to it was great.
Big Man Japan - If you like the odd aspects of the culture that is Japan, this one is for you. If not, skip it. I'm not sure I can even describe it without getting a call from the local mental health clinic.
Kick Ass - Pretty awful. Starts out promising, but then devolves into Yet Another Revenge flick, and a horribly amoral and manipulative one at that.
Hobo With a Shotgun - Pretty much exactly what it says it is. Intentionally cheesy, and not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. But I guess I was in the mood for stupid when I saw it, I found it entertaining.
The Perfect Host - Blacker than black humor and lots of strange (and sometimes ridiculous) twists. Not great, but entertaining. David Hyde Pierce is very good in the lead.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil - Role reversal satire on cabin in the woods horror films. Ridiculous but very amusing. Recommended.
RoboGeisha - Over the top, campy Japanese horror-comedy. If you like Japanese weirdness, you'll like this. Otherwise, not so much.
Rum Diary - Mediocre adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson novel. Not completely awful, but you're not missing anything if you skip it.
In The Loop - Awesome British political satire about the interaction of second level British and American politicians, diplomats and military in the run up to an invasion of a middle east country. A must watch, especially for people here. Highly Recommended.
I Saw the Devil - Unbelievably intense Korean revenge film. Not for the squeamish, when it comes to violence and psychological terror the Koreans don't f(*k around. Recommended.
Old Boy - This is a great movie. Choi Min-sik is excellent in the lead; but the movie, while violent, isn't about violence but what a man becomes when he's stripped of everything. Highly recommended.
Bunraku - It could have been interesting, but it's far too stylized for it's own good. The visuals aren't enough to make up for the meager story and become rather ridiculous. Once again, Josh Hartnett can't carry a movie.
The Ides of March - Not bad if you like Ryan Gosling's minimalist acting style. Predictable, but generally well acted and directed. Conservatives will love it because George Clooney plays a scumbag liberal.
Unknown - A thriller that really isn't. By the numbers exercise that will leave you sitting way back in your seat.
Never Let Me Go - Great movie. I don't want to go into details, but great script, great acting and great directing. Highly recommended.
Drive - More Ryan Gosling minimalism. Not bad, not great, worth a watch if you're patient. But don't expect a traditional thriller. The strength of this movie is in the acting, directing, cinematography, score and ambiance of LA. Very gory as well.
Martha Marcy May Marlene - Very interesting story of psychological dependence and altered reality. Very good acting by all involved, especially Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes. Recommended.
The Descendants - Pretty bad. The acting is generally OK, as is the cinematography, but the story is rather trite.
The Iron Lady - Meryl Streep does an incredible impersonation of Margaret Thatcher in an otherwise completely unimpressive and forgettable movie.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Great movie. Only boring if you don't remember or know anything about the Cold War and the kinds of risks that spies were exposed to at the time. Gary Oldman is just excellent, as is the rest of the cast. You will have to pay close attention if you want to follow the story, it is quite complex. Highly Recommended.
Rampart - Good movie, very good performance by Woody Harrelson. The story is fairly typical bad cop material, but the acting saves it from mediocrity. Recommended.
My Week with Marilyn - Pretty standard biopic, but a great performance by Michelle Williams and good work by the rest of the cast.
Chronicle - Pretty good for a film with a microscopic budget, although I admit a lot of the fun for me was watching downtown Seattle getting trashed during the finale. The leads are all good and believable as teens, and tend to not do stupid things as in most horror/paranormal films.
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Very powerful film. I think they overdid the flashback/flashforward technique a bit, but Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller are really just great in their roles. Highly Recommended.
Contagion - The only really good thing about this film is that Gwyneth Paltrow dies near the beginning of the film. Other than that it's a fairly predictable disaster story, although not as ridiculous as most.
Let us know what you've seen and been impressed with or disappointed by.
I haven't seen Kick-Ass but
(#285462)I haven't seen Kick-Ass but some have argued that the movie mocks its source material which gives the movie a different feel than it does to the uninitiated.
Drive is up there near one of my favorite scores of all time, which is something, because I heard none of it before watching the movie
Contagion and The Black Dahlia were, iirc, unremarkable but no where near Battlefield Earth territory.
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
In defense of Kick-Ass, it does highly stylized ultraviolence
(#285470)very well, if you're into that kind of thing. The storyline is sociopathic (i.e. screenwriters mostly incapable of human empathy) but solid enough not to prevent watching.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Oh, the action sequences are well done
(#285482)there's just not much beyond them, and what there was I found distasteful at best.
I blame it all on the Internet
If You've Got the Guts...Melancholia, Bestest Movie Evar! And...
(#285463)...Shame.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723811/
Both of these are Work...but ultimately very and deeply satisfying.
But because man does not live by intellect alone...some Fun, Ted, and Your Highness
Both are Hard R rated movies...but Your Highness is harder, imo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1240982/
(remember, I am an enthusiast...so I like a lot of things, I even enjoyed, a little, Hobo with a Shotgun...lol)
I also was very favorably impressed by the visual and story arc of Snow White and the Huntsman
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1735898/
Best Wishes, Traveller
I cannot even slightly recommend Your Highness,
(#285858)not even for Natalie Portman fanboys like me.
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
Contagion, Trollhunter, Kick-Ass
(#285472)Contagion - gets the science right for once, with one small exception which is ok because Gwyneth Paltrow dies. :) This is a fairly accurate depiction of how a novel highly virulent flu virus could begin, spread, overwhelm the global health care system and lead to things like mass graves in your neighborhood. It's well-filmed but as Hank says, the actual characters & story are fairly predictable.
Trollhunter - for sheer fun & bizarreness, everyone should see this.
Kick-Ass - as I mentioned before, great music, stylized fight choreography, etc. raises this a bit above the actual story, which is mediocre-cum-disturbing.
Dragon Tattoo Girl - (the original) I only saw the Swedish version and haven't read the books. I enjoyed the film somewhat but found the big revelation at the end a bit over the top... the villain doesn't turn out to be zombies from space or anything, but jarringly in excess of what you were expecting from such a quiet small-town murder mystery. The story felt small to me, mostly because I couldn't connect the small-town story with the main character's big-city journalistic background. Also, I felt nothing for the main characters. My verdict: a somewhat entertaining thriller that is well produced but a bit incoherent with unpleasant characters...don't rush out to buy the DVD.
M Aurelius was probably right.
We've never had a diary like this before!
(#285474)This is amazing!
(It's honestly useful tho, so thanks)
Maybe you should star in a movie called Wise-Ass nt
(#285484).
I blame it all on the Internet
The Other Guys; Moneyball; Rise of the Planet of the Apes
(#285475)The Other Guys - Hilarious buddy-cop spoof. Lots of great dialogue, unexpected story twists, Will Farrell & Mark Wahlberg have great chemistry. Michael Keaton does a great turn as an exhausted LT at the end of his rope. Memorable moments: the desk pop; the lion/tuna argument; "aim for the bushes." Recommended.
Moneyball - Meh. More interesting as history of the game than as a story in its own right. Worth watching, but it isn't the most entertaining baseball movie by a long shot.
Rise of the POTA - Great. Stellar, even. Manages to pull off a deconstruction of "humanity," a technological singularity, a Che Guevera-style populist revolt, and a surprisingly moving coming of age story all in the same film. Very powerful, moving. John Lithgow's great. Andy Serkis is great. James Franco is tolerable. Gets my unreserved recommendation.
M Aurelius was probably right.
My take...
(#285476)Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - I was bored nearly to death and I do remember the Cold War. I am also familiar with this kind of British spy movie. It is well done, for sure, but I found it lifeless and predictable compared to earlier works. Gary Oldman is good, but he is boxed in.
The Iron Lady - Meryl Streep does an incredible impersonation of Margaret Thatcher, but the basic premise of the movie to use her delusional/Alzheimer's state as a jump point to a series of flashbacks is awful. I hated it and I found it contemptible. I really don't want to know anything about her decay, which is a personal tragedy of no relevance to her historical role. I want to know how she got to be the Iron Lady, and what drove her in a male-dominated political world. These elements are incredibly sketchy. The movie has no time to do a good job because it's too busy showing you her broken mind. I hated it. Still, for a Forvm member, it's kind of a must see for certain historical segments.
Rum Diary - I don't agree at all with Hank here, but I can see why he feels that way. I thought the movie was actually quite good. A real portrait of an era and a mindset, of several actually. Hard-drinking writers aren't exactly news, but it's all about context. Another Forvm must see, AFAIC.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
Well
(#285486)I think the grayness and lifelessness of TTSS was to contrast appearances with what was actually going on. Life and death rendered routine and boring by bureaucracy. But I will admit that it's not an easy watch, definitely not something to pop in on a Friday night and zone out to.
The framing device in The Iron Lady could have been interesting, but as you say it's just the standard biopic (said this, went there, did that) without any of the whys being answered or even asked.
I didn't hate The Rum Diaries, I just thought they didn't use the good acting and very good cinematography to rise above average.
I blame it all on the Internet
Kung fu movies
(#285487)36th Chamber of Shaolin
Great premise and action, and who watches kung fu movies for the story anyway?
Curse of the Golden Flower
After 2 viewings I'm still not sure what the storyline was exactly, but the mass action sequences unexcelled IMO
Gymkata
American kung fu - really, really bad but fondly remembered Hollywood D-movie from a short, misspent time of life
literally anything can become right or wrong if the dominant class of the moment so wills it
More in this genre
(#285489)Chocolate - A Thai film with extraordinary action scenes. The end of the movie shows outtakes of cast members and stunt men being sent to the hospital.
13 Assassins - Not sure how I missed putting this on the list. Basically a slightly modified version of The Seven Samurai, but really well done.
I blame it all on the Internet
Nostalgia for Light
(#285491)I think there are some good recommendations here. Big Man Japan, very good, The Descendants, easily forgettable. Can't really say anything about the rest.
About Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I saw the BBC series not long ago, and it was fine. But I was disappointed in one respect, and that was the treatment of Le Carre's interrogation scenes. They can be in an office, cell, bar or living room, friendly or adversarial, one person trying to extract information from another. They are usually the most dramatic, intense scenes in a Le Carre novel. In the BBC series, the interrogations began, only to switch (albeit without the screen going all wavy) to 'flashback mode' with a minute or so. It was a tv show after all, and the writers can't help themselves writing in location shooting in Lisbon, even though the acting was strong enough to handle the scenes as Le Carre had written them. I imagine the movie is much the same as the tv series.
My addition to the list, the only recent film I can recommend that's not likely to be widely know, the Chilean documentary "Nostalgia for Light" about the Atacama Plateau. It's one of the highest and driest places on earth, making it ideal for Astronomers and Archeologists. Both are interested in the distant past preserved there, but the director focuses in on the very recent past, and how so little is know of it. Warm characters, beautiful scenes, poetic and meditative.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/movies/nostalgia-for-the-light-chil...
You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it. - Ho Chi Minh
Incoherent TDKR Ain't No Inception or even Prometheus....
(#285669)...which is not to say that Ann Hathaway wasn't wonderful as Catwoman...a sterling performance. Michael Cain, not so much though many have praised this performance of his...I disagree, he grows tiresome on me.
The last half hour was pretty good...Marion Cotillard was wonderful as always. I am a big Christopher Nolan fanboy...but this was only acceptable, at best.
Traveller
I thought the anti anti-Wall St
(#285671)jarred in the current climate. Also, the anti-OWS, pro-police and pro-billionaire not-so-subtle subtext.
But we do buy the 'rich man will save us' syndrome here. My fellow cinemagoers seemed suitably impressed in the after movie discussion. I feel our middle classes moving to a we need a 'Leader' attitude. I envy the American attitude of public disdain about public servants especially President and Congresspeople.
literally anything can become right or wrong if the dominant class of the moment so wills it
As One Might Expect From Me, I Thought The Terror Trials...
(#285672)...mimicing the French Revolution were just fine!
"Death or Exile?" the rich were asked. Then forced out on the ice flows of the East River to plunge into the icy water and their deserved death warmed the far corners of my heart.
No trial necessary, the rich guilty and evilly guilty, all that remained to be determined was the sentencing.
I don't worship at the alter of free market capitalism or kowtow to moneyed wealth and their false Gods.
As Anne Hathaway/Selena Kyle/Catwoman so rightly noted:
"There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."
Eat these words, feel their texture...Days are coming when Justice will be told.
Traveller
I watched Rises a week or so
(#285851)I watched Rises a week or so ago and liked it but thought parts of it didn't work, like the twist at the end. Yesterday I re-watched The Dark Knight (between working on my car and watching the Blue Angles fly overhead). It was as good as I had remembered, much better than Rises.
Cowboys & Aliens; The Warrior's Way; Bridesmaids
(#285674)Cowboys & Aliens - starts off promisingly, but quickly decoheres into a mishmash of genre cliches, and those poorly executed. Some of the action sequences are slightly entertaining, but without any 3-dimensional characters they come across as empty. The amnesia subplot resolves stupidly; the aliens have no personality whatsoever. Skip.
The Warrior's Way - Kate Bosworth almost ruins this film singlehandedly with a plucky/scrappy farmgirl schtick that is probably the most annoying thing I've seen on screen in the past five years. Obviously she was directed to act this way; a criminally bad decision. Wildly overstylized lighting would be the other directorial crime here. The swordfighting sequences are suitably badass & fun, and the bad guys are fleshed out enough so that seeing them go down is satisfying. But there's nothing here you can't see in a hundred other, far better-made kung fu pictures. Skip.
Bridesmaids - Hilarious, profane, over the top if somewhat predictable wedding movie. Kristen Wiig is great in a fairly stock role as the neurotic, Cathy-like maid of honor trying not to ruin her best friend's wedding with paranoid egoism. Would've liked to see a less expected take on that character. Melissa McCarthy's great even though pretty much a female clone of Zach Galifianakis's Hangover character. Worth watching.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Couldn't disagree more
(#285683)I thought Bridesmaids was awful, really not funny except in one or two spots. My wife and daughter hated it even more than I did.
C&A was awful, but mentioning it is like shooting fish in a barrel.
I blame it all on the Internet
I'm trying to warn people off the bad, as well as
(#285698)point out the good. Did you like The Hangover?
M Aurelius was probably right.
hangover I, Very Good, Bridesmaids Walk-Out Bad, But Interesting
(#285703)...and engaging was Hick, staring Chloe Moretz...a coming of age movie with some nasty teeth.
But, it kept me engaged...and somewhat terrified as to her fate...I gave it an 8 out of 10 on IMDB, and after a night of reflection, I gave TDKR a 6.
I give out lots of 10's.
Hick is an obscure movie that will probably anger most, but it certainly is less brutal than The Poker House. One needs a strong constitution to see that...which is not to say it is not a true(ish) rendition of a life in the forming.
I also saw, while assembling a complex bookcase,(0ne has to build most of their own furniture now), Almost Famous again...certainly one of the best coming of age movies ever....and sweet.
I am having some interest in coming of age movies because I have several relatives in the process...some are doing well, some utterly terrible....and the question, from an artistic standpoint, is suddenly of relevant interest.
I'd give the IMDB links to these movies, but the trailers will probably set people off.
Best Wishes, Traveller
PS The Hangover II is unwatchable and ugly in spirit, imo.
I did like The Hangover
(#285704)I didn't think it was great, but the structure of the audience finding things out as the characters did worked out pretty well. It also helped that the characters (except Zach Galfianakis) were fairly normal people. And even he was odd in a "remember that guy in high school" way rather than as a complete overplayed weirdo.
I blame it all on the Internet
The best new movies
(#285675)I've seen in the last couple of years are Win Win and Moonrise Kingdom.
Last night I saw Cars 2 on DVD and it made me think. There was something about the scene in Toy Story 3 where the toys are heading on a pile of garbage toward oblivion. The scene works, but it's a bit crass and manipulative. That's later redeemed by the very charming last scene... but still, something happened there... some turning point. Cars 2 corroborates the suspicion. I suspect the golden age of Pixar is over. They might make good movies again, but I doubt they will regain their verve.
"I don't want us to descend into a nation of bloggers." - Steve Jobs
Agreed, Pixar has peaked.
(#285701)I'm not sure what happened, whether folding in the Disney production staff watered things down, or the effect of money and power distracted them.
I've heard from people in the animation world that the death of Joe Ranft was a real blow to Pixar's story development team. As their lead storyboarder (and voice of several memorable minor characters), Joe was supposedly the heart and soul of Pixar's deep, collaborative story development process. Of course Lasseter is responsible for a lot of the genius of Pixar storytelling too, but then again, Cars is his baby, and the original Toy Story treatment looked nothing like the final film. My take is that part of what makes the Toy Story, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc. and other early screenplays so rich and satisfying is that the story teams were huge. They pulled in ideas and brainstorming from dozens to hundreds of people...which is both expensive and artistically hard to pull off. I think Ranft was part of the glue that helped so many different people collaborate to put a story together.
It may just be that maintaining the energy & enthusiasm to run such a large story team is too difficult, and the temptation to fall back on storytelling formulas too great for any one organization to keep it up for more than a decade or two.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Interesting
(#285706)I can see how one guy might have a special effect on group chemistry.
But I think your last graf nails it. I don't wonder why they couldn't keep it up... I wonder how they were able to do it in the first place. It seems to me like a simply unprecedented string of creative hits: a unmatched miracle.
On the other hand, there are parts of Cars 2 where the visual storytelling gets muddy... not just unworthy of Pixar, but hard to decipher and just plain bad.
"I don't want us to descend into a nation of bloggers." - Steve Jobs
Maybe...
(#285717)I am not saying that internal forces are not at work.
But Disney marketing has often hated the Pixar way. New films every year, new characters, oddball stories. They want franchises, formula, and successful test screenings in suburbia. Sausages, in other words.
I don't believe the Pixar team is insulated from that:
So is there a Pixar picture these mediocre bums do know how to sell? According to the author of the piece, Cars 3, a sequel to a sequel. Game, set, match.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
I don't think so
(#285723)A friend of mine wrote Nemo 2 for Disney in the time just before Lasseter took over as Creative Director. Of course her project was instantly killed since it wasn't a Pixar-originated project. He was described to me as a 500-pound gorilla in a Hawaiian shirt, who terrified the Disney people. The Pixar gang were the kids with the golden touch, who could do no wrong. They were pretty much given the keys to the Kingdom.
"I don't want us to descend into a nation of bloggers." - Steve Jobs
Clooney
(#285685)Clooney's political films are worth a diary in their own right, but Ides of March was, I thought, awful.
Clooney's character is pure fantasy. A non-fringe American presidential candidate who is an open atheist, a fact he repeats in every stump speech. I mean, really? I don't even have wet dreams about that kind of thing. As an agnostic, I know my political career would, with lots of luck and an incompetent opponent, top out as congressman for some latte-sipping ultraliberal district in San Francisco or Vermont.
Once you start with that premise, it can go downhill from there, and it does, on a skateboard. The acting and directing are fine, but the script is a ridiculous premise bolted on a grade B conventional plot.
I loved Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Clooney's first film. It's not for everybody, and it certainly is a product of a liberal world-view. But I found it original and interesting.
I also liked The Descendants a lot. I strongly recommend it.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
The Descendants was...
(#287575)....very good. I agree re: Ides Of March, though I don't think the atheist Pres candidate is crucial. He could have ditched that and it would have had zero impact on anything. But the characters' actions and reactions make very little sense to me, even if we take the premise that the guy's really a rat bastard as a starting point.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Just saw
(#285715)The Queen of Versailles. Excellent. You actually feel sorry for the woman by the end.
They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...
-- General John B. Sedgwick, 1864
I saw Trollhunter on Netflix
(#285790)Surprisingly good. Suspenseful.
Also surprisingly good was The Hammer, which I saw on Netflix a week or two ago.
I agree with your comment on Kick Ass.
I haven't seen any of the other movies on your list. I might've seen Contagion, but I think I feel asleep to it.
And what's a movie review thread without an analysis of the Nazi-zombie genre. Dead Snow was awesome, especially if you like entrails spilling out of peoples' bodies. Perfect for teenagers of all ages.
Government is merely a servant – merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.
I saw Dead Snow
(#285792)but I found it pretty boring and basically JAZM.
I blame it all on the Internet
Ya. -nt
(#287574).
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Most brainless movie ever
(#285796)The Red Dawn remake, with North Koreans playing the role of the Russians. Talk about implausible.
Government is merely a servant – merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.
Come on, like the first one was plausible? nt
(#285798).
I blame it all on the Internet
To Reagan supporters of the era, yes.
(#285834)But, to be fair, the movie wasn't as bad as the premise. For one thing (spoiler) the American rebels all die. They set off a chain of events that will turn the tide, but they aren't bulletproof Rambo types. There are other good details, internal conflicts, and so on, but memory fades.
I just remember going into it thinking it would be a total piece of garbage, but it turns out that if you set aside the garbage plot line, the movie itself has its moments. Its worst defect, besides the premise itself, is that the Russians are cardboard evil types. Whatever attempt they made at nuance for the Americans, they were not willing to share with the Russians.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
A Russo-Cuban invasion of the continental US?
(#285866)That succeeded immediately? Sorry, MA, even then it was a deranged fantasy.
I blame it all on the Internet
Indeed it was!
(#285892)I think I made that clear enough by calling the premise garbage.
But once you go with it (like going with a Marine Expeditionary Unit materializing in ancient Rome, let's say), the movie was not as badly done as I expected it would be.
Anyway, that's my recollection and I am sticking to it.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
It has basically already been done in a video game
(#285857)"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
Saving Private Perez
(#285827)Saw it last night. General style of a Wayans Bros comedy, but Mexican. Cheesy but mildly amusing if you're willing to let yourself go. Spanish/English/Arabic/Russian with subtitles.
Watching Tucker and Dale vs
(#286480)Watching Tucker and Dale vs Evil right now.... Looks good so far.
Well, I Always Like the Off Beat and Exotic...7.6 on IMDB
(#286491)...the trailer looks like fun.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1465522/
Thanks for the heads up.
How do we keep a diary like this as almost a sticky....I'd hate to see this pass from the Front Page...people seem to be having useful fun with this.
Best Wishes, Traveller
"Fun" is a good description.
(#286522)"Fun" is a good description. Silly but worth your time.
Total Recall? I Hope to Forget this Forgetable Film...
(#286627)...I like to say that I like anything, I am an enthusiast, I can find good and value in more places than most....but Total Recall was bad, the fact that Kate Beckinsale is married to the director could account for her amazing ability to stay alive and gather all that screen time...
But she is the lease of the problem....I really wanted to like this movie...I'd have a chance to see the future...well done or badly, this is almost always interesting, (to me).
So I went in with reasonable expectations...but every SF movie and many others were just scene stolen-from...this was weird...but eventually you come to say, Yes, that's from Fifth Element, that's from I Robot, that's from, for God's sake, Cameron's True Lies and that from Star Wars--Attack of the Clones.
A very odd movie experience...nowhere as good or even in the same ballpark as the original.
Skip this one.
Me, I'm off to spent the night in the mountains seeing the Perseid Meteor Shower.
Best Wishes, Traveller
I agree Trav... I went with both of my brothers...
(#286629)We wanted to like it. It had many cool ideas but the lack of depth in some ways the lack of story within a story etc. We were not clear on if we like the original better than this one having been many years since we watched it. (The coolest part was the guy explaining Total recall... The problem was that was the coolest part.)
A Rental if that .... The ladies were easy on the eyes but that was not enough. It was also busy with action and slow with thought but dragged... The pace was all wrong....
Ask courageous questions. Do not be satisfied with superficial answers. Be open to wonder and at the same time subject all claims to knowledge, without exception, to intense skeptical scrutiny. Be aware of human fallibility. Cherish your species and yo
Trollhunter and Rare Exports rock!
(#287123)Check out Lillyhammer on Netflix as well.
Avoid Iron Sky, however.
Will try Terribly Happy and the two Korean recs--thanks!
Far better than the crappy Tinker Tailor is the BBC miniseries of Smiley's People.
Trollhunter was funny!
(#287572)My wife enjoyed seeing the homeland.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Bourne Legacy...(and The Sum of All My Fears)
(#287570)...I've seen some real poopy movies lately.
Caught Cowboys & Aliens on cable the other night...was this the worst movie ever made with 163 Million Dollars? Damn, this was bad! It is fortunate I was doing other things or I would have had to rip my eyes out of my head.
Total Recall as previously reported was...not worth recalling
TDKR was...acceptable, but not up to Nolan standards or my expectations.
Bourne Identity however, as a piece of adventure, very good...I enjoyed the tie-in's to the other Bourne movies, the cinematography was sharp & clear with clean colors....
I liked the plot, Jeremy Renner was sympathetic and I've always liked Rachel Weiz...Definitely worth paying for in my opinion.
I did however come out quite worried about Yellowstone...the last mountain I climbed up on the Burmese border...was tough on me...as was hiking Bryce Canyon above 8,000 feet...I mean I'm dragging, I'm slowing other people down. Actually I've told them to leave me and I'd catch up, as I did...but my legs were rubber.
I don't know how I'll do in Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons.
Let me say something honest....I don't mind dying at any of these things, I think about the two boys who drowned in the Merced River last week in Yosemite and remember me earlier this year going up the freezing water of the Virgin River in Zion National Park, it was all a slot canyon so there was no way out...well, 20 miles forward at the head waters...after my feet were completely numb stumps I refused to go on....I am ashamed of this but it is true...I walked backwards out of The Narrows in Zion.
In anything I just don't want to be embarrassed...kill me, but don't let me be humiliated. Maybe it was just seeing a Bourne Movie...but I never ever ever was as good as I thought I was, and I never thought too highly of myself, so to be worse than my already bad opinion...well!
Smart and quick enough to run, but I have never been very strong.
I supose I'll manage.
Best Wishes, Traveller