Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Spaceballs

"Why are you preparing? You're always preparing, JUST GO!"

 

Life of Brian

 

Paranorman

 

Eight Below

 

Pardon me for this brief aside, but may I politely request that when mentioning the last movie you saw, you offer some observation or critique of the film, or at least mention whether you liked it or not? Otherwise the thread is just a list of movie titles.

Fantastic Mr. Fox -- Is fantastic. What a delightful little cussing gem of a movie.
Taking Woodstock -- Is incomplete, feels unfinished, though what's there is excellent. Requires viewing Woodstock (1969) to completely understand what's going on. To wit:
Woodstock (Dir's Cut) -- Is moving, magical, musical. Provides deep insight into the times in addition to being fabulously entertaining. Possibly the best documentary ever filmed.

 

Watched The Big Year earlier on Sky Movies. This is a nice little film with Steve Martin and Jack Black. I don't remember seeing it listed in the cinemas here (UK) but I sure enjoyed it. I recommend it if you're into any form of bird-watching. UK rating is PG due to 'mild language' but IMO it's suitable for family viewing.

I liked Fantastic Mr. Fox when I first saw it. Sky Movies ran it over Christmas one year.

 

I watched about half of this on HBO one day... and wondered what the point was. I mean, I tend to like 'slice of life' movies about mundane topics, but what I fail to understand is casting big name stars like Wilson, Martin and Black in roles that require no comedic skills. The actors could have been unknowns and the film would have been as effective. Also, there was no discernible climax to the various plot threads, but then again I missed the first 45 minutes so perhaps I did not fully understand the dramatic set-ups. Anyway it was pleasant enough viewing.

 

I think I liked it because I like to watch birds and I enjoyed the story. Missing the first 45 minutes probably didn't help though.

 

Lincoln

DDL's performance is better than the film which delivers strongly on giving us the most accurate, accessible Lincoln we've ever seen.
It also has a million wonderful spot on touches for those familiar with the scene and times.

Unfortunately it also has too much Spielberg schmaltz and a badly chosen central plot/timeline IMO.

Still a great achievement in breaking the popular carved in stone, voice of God Lincoln of the popular imagination.

 

Mystic Pizza
It was a cute movie. It's from 1988 and I was able to pick out Julia Roberts immediately

 

Akira

Been quite awhile since I last watched it. I still love it. It's my favorite animated film.

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

 

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

 

Next film I'm going to see is A Christmas Story. Haven't seen it in years as it normally isn't a UK 'Christmas film'. However the film channel TCM is showing it from 7:15 - 9PM tonight. (If you're in the UK and get this channel I highly recommend it. Very funny!)

 

I've never seen it, but the title always makes me chuckle for some reason.

Not in a Young Man with a Horn way, but still.

 

Sucker Punch: Not as bad as I feared, but a weird mash-up of musical and video-game-inspired fight-sequences with little in the way of story. Interesting, but I felt the cast and the rest of the creative talent could have done with a better script. I enjoyed it more than 300, though.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Second time seeing this, and I still rate it highly despite some clunky moments and what look to me like some ill-advised cuts and re-shoots. Garfield's Peter/Spidey is much closer to my memories of the comic-book than Tobey's, and I loved Emma Stone as Gwen. I look forward to the next one.

 

That's hilarious. It's like the definitive Christmas film here in the states. There's a channel over here that shows nothing but A Christmas Story for 24 hours. I, of course, loathe the movie, but it's interesting to hear you say that it's not one of the more widely seen "Christmas movies" in the UK.

 

This is the first time in a long time, and I only knew it was on because it was highlighted in one of the weekend TV listings magazines. I'm taping it as I watch in case I don't see it listed next year.

Also I happen to love Jean Shepherd, who is the narrator. One of his short stories was the basis for the film. I used to listen to his radio show back in the 70s in NYC. (He's passed away now, unfortunately).

 

I thought it was fairly mean-spirited, disjointed, and distant from any of the characters.
Oh good God I just described a Stanley Kubrick film.

 

Today I watched two films by Lebanese-Swedish writer-director Josef Fares back to back. Previously I had watched the semi-autobiographic Zozo (2005), also both written and directed by Josef Fares, which I highly recommend, so now I decided to go back to two of his earlier hits.

The first was Jalla! Jalla! (2000), a romantic comedy about the young Lebanese immigrant Roro, whose conservative Christian family is pressuring into an arranged marriage. The problem is that Roro is already in a long relationship with his Swedish love Lisa, that he has until now kept secret from his family. Of course, we all know the proceedings from here on out. All the familiar tropes are present, although some original ones as well. As I've now come to expect from Fares, his films have a certain light-hearted whimsical way of dealing with things, which makes them easy to watch. Even in the more serious Zozo, the beginning of which is right in the middle of the Lebanese civil war, this trait is present. Although this film isn't as strong or moving as Zozo, it still is entertaining enough, and of a decidedly more light-hearted nature. 3 out of 5.

The second was Kopps (2003), a comedy about the police officers of a small Swedish town where nothing happens. Rendered superfluous by the complete lack of crime in their small community, their merry precinct is decided shut down, and the officers find themselves without jobs. That is, unless they can somehow get the crime statistics high enough to warrant their continued funding. Akin to Hot Fuzz, but not as good. However, it is not without its charm. Similar to the sidekick in Hot Fuzz, the most entertaining character here is the overzealous officer Benny, who longs for more action in his workday. As a footnote, this film was made before Hot Fuzz. 3.5 out of 5.

 

Addmas Family Values: This was vastly superior to the original in many ways. It actually had a plot compared to the vague pseudo-sketch comedy of the original. I also loved that each of the actors expanded on their roles from the first. Ricci is brillaintly sardonic, Lloyd literally disappears into his character, Huston is hilariously deadpan, and Raul Julia has such great manic energy to the role and I'm really kinda sad he died a year later. Oh and Joan Cusak is a hoot. Really too bad this didn't do as well at the box office as the original did because it's a great example of how to build upon the characters. 4 out of 5.

Throw Momma From the Train: A great semi-remake of Strangers on the Train with some hilarious set-pieces. The chemistry between Crystal and DeVito is superb and if you're not in stitches during the "Cousin Pat" scene you have no soul. 4 out of 5.

The Royal Tenebaums: I'm just starting to get into Wes Anderson movies (I saw Mr. Fox when it came out, and Moonrise Kingdom in theaters this past summer), and I would say this was a near-perfect movie. Gene Hackman is great to watch in anything, and he owns the role in this film. Why he wasn't nominated for an Oscar is beyond me. I also liked Stiller quite a bit which is rare because if he ever plays the straight-man he is unbearable to watch. After watching this consider me a fan of Wes. 4.5 out of 5.

 

Synecdoche, New York

I could watch this movie over and over. In fact I think I'll watch it every year 'til I die.

 

Red Dawn. It was terrible and I loved it.

 

The Black Sleep, a pretty terrible 50's flick that reunites a bunch of horror stars who were considered past their prime. It is essentially Basil Rathbone speaking 'science'y sounding phrases.