Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Hugo (2011) -- Wonderful! We laughed, we cried, we marveled at the cinematography. I wish, wish, WISH I had seen this on the big-screen in 3D, but we were poor last year and couldn't afford it. Now we own it on DVD. Take that, wheel of karma!!

I've been researching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s]Georges[/url] Melies since the film ended, and I must say I'm incredibly impressed. I was familiar with A Trip to the Moon, but dear sweet Lord the man was accomplished and prolific. Wow.

 

Sort of had an unofficial Andrew Stanton double feature since Starz was free this weekend. Finding Nemo which is still wonderful as ever. And I finally saw John Carter. And I have to say I really liked it. I thought it was just a good old fashioned adventure story. I thought Taylor Kitsch was a little spotty but after seeing Friday Night Lights I know he's capable of good work. But Lynn Collins was great. I'm sure because the movie bombed I could find the dvd or blu-ray pretty cheap these days but I won't be ashamed to have it in my collection.

 

The Town
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck. Also starring in this heist flick adapted from a book are Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner. There's a slightly unique twist to the plot in this one which adds a second layer of suspense, I suppose. I liked it a lot, I think it was very good. I was thoroughly entertained, at the very least.

4 out of 5.

 

I saw this with my mom in the cinema back in January during Christmas Break. The 3D was drop dead gorgeous. Probably the best looking 3D film I have ever seen. I remember thinking "man if this doesn't win the Best Art Direction Oscar I'm going to stop watching the Oscars". Needless to say it did, and I was very ecstatic. Yeah it's a fantastic movie, and it should have won Best Picture.

 

Dark Shadows. An interesting gothic piece from the increasingly wearisome Tim Burton that was fairly entertaining until the last 30 minutes where it completely falls apart. Too many ideas are thrown at the screen. Plot twists that make almost no sense and are not developed in the slightest. Also the film doesn't really have an ending. It's like Apocalypse Now where it just stops. It's a shame they probably won't make a sequel since it was released in the wake of The Avengers.

 

Skyfall-Not only was it a terrific Bond film. Certainly I'd place it in my top three with Goldfinger and Casino Royale but just a terrific film period.

 

Beautifully shot.

Abysmally everything else'd.

 

Oh yeah the cinematography was gorgeous. Then again I expect nothing less from Tim in that department.

 

Juno

 

Don't thank Burton, thank Bruno Delbonnel, who for my money is in the top 3 DPs in the business at the moment. The other two being Deakins and Richardson.

 

In my film studies I watched the original Lethal Weapon for the second time. Kind of scary how crazy Mel is in that. It does have the best Gary Busey line in a movie. "IT'S GODDAMNED CHRISTMAS!!"

 

Got him the gig as Zeffirelli's Hamlet.

 

Really? I didn't know that. Makes sense I suppose since he's so intense in that movie as well. Still not my favorite Hamlet. That would go to Kenneth's version which is probably the best film adaptation that I have seen of any Shakespearian play.

 

I saw Life of PI yesterday with my wife. It was a very good movie. The visuals were fantastic. The 3D was really nice.

 

Wait till you see Argo! With that film and The Town, Affleck has totally turned around his previous image as a vaguely talented pretty-boy. As it turns out he's rather brilliant and an extremely good actor. I can't recommend Argo enough, even with its historical liberties.

 

I'm actually not hugely impressed overall with Affleck's 2nd and 3rd efforts. I think the second half of Argo (can't isolate it to an act) works fantastically well, but the first half if conflict-free breezy and boring nonsense. The Town isn't very interesting at all.

Gone Baby Gone, however, bears the mark of a very talented filmmaker.

 

Flyboys
Before the US joins the first world war, a diverse group of young American men volunteer to fly for the French air force as fighter pilots, in the first war to use the relatively recently invented (at the time) aeroplane as a weapon. After all, the Wright brothers had made their first successful powered controllable flight only 13 years prior. The story is based on the real Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron consisting mainly of American volunteers. Starring James Franco and Jean Reno. As a lightweight, so to speak, actioner featuring dogfights and aerial acrobatic thrills, it succeeds rather well, in my opinion. It doesn't aim to portray events with the gravity of what one considers a "war movie". Saving Private Ryan, this is not. I haven't seen Red Tails, but I suppose this is the World War I equivalent, in that it is purely for entertainment, and not meant to be thought provoking. Its weakest aspect is the romance plot of sorts that doesn't really go anywhere, between Franco's character and a French girl he meets near their base. In addition to that, there are some things in it that I didn't find believable, and considering that it's loosely based on real events, there shouldn't be any such things.

In conclusion; passable. I found it fairly entertaining, but not remarkable in any way.

 

How are you dividing halves? In/out of Iran?

 

Youse. I consider the decision to go ahead with the movie to be the inciting incident, so the whole Hollywood stuff constitutes the second act, IMO. And I didn't think much of it. The protagonist encounters no roadblocks whatsoever. It's just "Hey, I know just the guy" stuff.

I must stress, though, that the stuff in Iran works very well. Especially when McNairy explains the storyboards - fantastic moment.

 

I'll agree that Iran is where the film really gets into gear, but there is conflict in the first act -- the struggle to figure out what to do. The second act, getting the ducks in a row for the film, is all quick successes, yeah -- but at the same time, it's basically just an expositional hurdle before the film can get into the meat of its story, and I'm not sure the film would benefit from spending more time on it to make it more of a challenge. Moving through it quickly, and relying on the propulsive energy of the plan coming together and on humor to get the audience through it, is a good choice IMO.

 

I watched The Bitch with Joan Collins pre-Dynasty. It was written by her sister Jackie Collins. This movie was in my Netflix queue under "long wait" for about six months. Actually I fell asleep on it and didn't find it as campy and one-liner-driven funny as its predecessor The Stud to continue watching but now that I think of it I could have just let it play the past hour I've been awake since I finished watching
Columbiana. I lost interest as I watched it as it looked like a regular kid-grows-up-and-gets-revenge-for-parents story and had some really obvious homages to The Professional / Leon.
Ah, of course. I just read it was written by Luc Besson. I hope Zoe Saldana can get some better roles in her Avatar and Star Trek off-time.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

 

Oh, it's a good choice for sure. And it's a good film. I just don't think it's all that rich.

As for finding out what to do, Affleck's character seems to stumble upon that rather quickly, faces opposition briefly and then moves on. I agree that there are narrative issues, and I think they're inherent in the story - Affleck does his best I guess.

TBH, I think it's Valkyrie-par entertainment, which is no shameful thing, but I don't think it's a particularly special film, and the Oscar talk mystifies me (until I remember that hey, it's a film where Hollywood saves people! Of course it'll show up at the Oscars).

I am puzzled by the fact that Arkin is being touted for a nomination, which seems insane. Cranston, McNairy, or nothing, for my money.

 

Koyaanisqatsi

 

Of the two Hollywood players in Argo, Goodman was far superior to Arkin. But Cranston was better than both of them.