What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #19
Another Christmas flick and a top 2009 comedy
On top of the two films you see below I also watched Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky Balboa, the director's cut of Terminator Salvation, Public Enemies and A Christmas Tale, all of which were on Blu-ray and will be reviewed promptly. There are also a few other new site updates around the corner and I will be asking for your input on potential site improvements in the very near future as next weekend I plan on opening up the discussion asking for what you currently like about the site and what you hope could be improved. Now don't go commenting on these things below, keep your ideas for later on.
For now, let's take a look at what I watched this past week and hear what you watched in the comments below.
| Scrooged (1988) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: I know a lot of people love this movie, but I just didn't get all that many laughs out of it this time around. This was my first time seeing it since way back when and I did get a few chuckles, but overall it's just a decent '80s comedy. | |
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| In the Loop (2009) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: I showed my family this one over the Thanksgiving holiday and they didn't have all that much fun with it as I think the swearing really turned my mother off specifically. I even warned her Peter Capaldi's character lets the F-bombs fly, but even still there really is no preparing someone for the number of times he says "fuck" in this film. This was also the fourth time I have watched this film and I noticed the more times you watch it the more the satire rises to the top and the moments of all out laughter are pushed to the side. It becomes more of a "laughing quietly to myself" kind of film as the political satire becomes from more prominent. I wonder if the swearing will turn off awards voters as I would love to see this one nominated for a Golden Globe nomination, but feel it doesn't have the all-around appeal to satisfy everyone. | |
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There you have it. Now share your weekly recaps and weigh in with any thoughts you may have on the films I saw. And remember to connect with my Netflix queue by clicking here, I have already added several titles from those that have already linked up.
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I just got done watching "The Apartment". What a pleasure. Also saw Nicolas Cage in "Bad Lieutenant" today. Mesmerizing performance.
I watched:
The Thief of Bagdad
Man Push Cart
The Bicycle Thief
The Last Metro
Touch of Evil
Z
Eyes Without a Face
Fantastic Mr. Fox (twice)
I had a lot of free time on my hands.
Gave The Hurt Locker a re-watch. One of my top films of the year. The suspense remains as strong the second time around, and I actually appreciated its focus on characters rather than plot more this time. Great film.
Really want to watch In the Loop, though Black Dynamite is unquestionably the best comedy of the last few years for me, and I can't see ANYTHING beating it.
I watched the following:
Anvil
W
Mrs Henderson Presents
Samson & Delilah (the Australian film)
I'm sure I watched a couple of others but can't for the life of me remember what they were.
Sunset Boulevard ~ Yet another great movie that had sprung from the mind of Billy Wilder. 5/5
Philadelphia ~ If you need a good cry, here's your movie. 4.5/5
Gentleman's Agreement ~ Underrated Elia Kazan movie about anti-Semitism. 4.5/5
The 40-Year-Old Virgin- 5/5- hilarious
Paranormal Activity 3.5/5- the ending, to me, was a little abrupt but other than that it's great.
Up- 5/5- my favorite Pixar movie ever.
Saw Bright Star, and I loved the colors. Except for 2-3 truly bizarre sequences, I thought it was well-written and well-directed (needlepoint has never been so sexy). Thought Abbie Cornish did a very nice job. I do remember your grade for the film, Brad, but I simply must disagree.
Before Sunrise: 7/10
Pieces of April: 7/10
Reds: 9/10
The Road: 9/10
City of Men: 7/10
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009): 7/10
Up (re-watch): 8/10
Legends of the Fall: 8/10
The Guardian: 6/10
The Road: 9-10- Saw it friday and loved every second, one of the best films so far this year
Ninja Assassin: 2-10- Sadly, I saw this thursady night and really have nothing to say about this one. It was just stupid
Out of ****
Fantastic Mr. Fox: **** This is a MASS APPEAL film, people!! My 12-year-old sister loved it. I, the cinephile, loved it. My 18-year-old cousin, normally only into action movies and comedies, said "I thought it would be stupid, but it was the most legit film all year!" My brother loved it, too. It's fast-paced, has a great plot and great action, it's funny for kids, and yet it is imbued throughout with subtle funniness for adults. You MUST see this film!
Rendition: **1/2. Pretty good in spots, but the script is a bit messy, and Gavin Hood's direction is more akin to his work in "Wolverine" than "Tsotsi."
The Thin Red Line: (Rewatch) **** Better the second time than the first! And I'm not sure why I love this film so much. It's basically 170 minutes of various soldiers giving existential voice-overs during a battle in the Pacific in WWII. And yet it's amazing. Great cinematography, great music. And the first 10 minutes has got to be one of the best openings to a movie, EVER. I'd definitely pick it over "Saving Private Ryan," made the same year and also nominated for Best Picture.
Chasing Amy: **** There are just some movies where you feel like they were made for you and you alone. This is one of them. I was bowled over by how good it was. And I empathized so strongly with BOTH the main characters (the somewhat awkward Holden and the bisexual Alyssa) that I couldn't do anything but love this film to death. It is SUCH a real movie with SUCH real characters. I'm definitely buying it on DVD.
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, very entertaining movie.
Terminator Salvation, my local video club releases them on Friday.
@JM:
have you seen the new world ? you should check it out, its by the same guy who made the thin red line, terrance malick. i agree TRL is amazing i own it on dvd, but i would still pick saving private ryan over it.
11/22-11/28:
The Spy Who Loved Me – C
The Life of David Gale – F
The Living Daylights – C+
Thunderball – B-
The Man With the Golden Gun – B
Fantastic Mr. Fox – A-
Unfaithful – C+
Unforgiven (rewatch) – A+
I LOVED 'In The Loop'! I saw that in July. I agree, some people just won't "get" it, but those who will most likely will love it.
Here is my list:
On DVD:
I had, unplanned, a Seth Rogan triple feature this week
1. ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO. I'm very much a fan of Kevin Smith and thus far even his non "Jersey Trilogy" films have not dissapointed me (I'm in the minority of people who would like to see a Directors Cut of 'Jersey Girl' as Smith cut a lot of the JLO/Affleck scenes because of their media over exposure and word is, at the time, their scenes together were very strong and made the film more than what it was). Any rate, ZACK AND MIRI is great film… and it fits into my Holiday Films Marathon as it is based before and after Thanksgiving. I think that it has quite a bit of heart and that it is more or less a thinly veiled story of the making of 'Clerks' (Smith has stated this). And I've got to say that the performances of all the actors are very good. Especially Seth Rogan, True he played a similar Character to ones he has played before, just with no Jewish jokes and I attribute that Smiths Witing. I also enjoyed former real Porn Star Katie Morgan's performance, as she was the sweetest, cutest "porn actress" chraracter and i just wanted to hug her everytime she was on screen.
2. FUNNY PEOPLE. I really enjoyed this movie. I can see why people had issues with this movie as it was marketed as a full on "laugh a minute broad comedy" when in actuallity it was "Dramedy". I saw lots of comments on IMDB, that people hated the Sandler character or thought he was a jerk to Rogans character. I agree, sort of. At first he was dealing with the fact that he was dying, so of course his anger is going to be passive agressive to the one person he allowed close to him in a long time. After he found out that he was possibly cleared of the disease, he had already run the gauntlent of telling his friends and had to go back and tell them he was ok, So I can see why his passive agressiveness would resurface since it was Rogans character that told him to go forth and tell people. I also felt that Rogan underplayed his normal style of character quite well here. And overall I found this to be a very well written, well acted and well directed film.
3. TRAINS, PLANES & AUTOMOBILES. I love this movie, I watch it every year around or on Thanksgiving. There is not much I can say about it that hasn't already been said, so I'll leave it at that.
4. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. I had never seen this movie before and I thought it was pretty good. A good addition to my holiday movie collection. I liked the simplicity of it and the kookie family is probably very identifiable to a lot of people. Robert Doweny Jr. (as usual) shines in the role of the gay brother and Charles Durning turned in a great performance as the Patriarch of this brood. Jodie Foster lended a subtle hand behind the camera as well.
ON Demand:
5. OBSERVE AND REPORT. I think I will have to watch this movie a couple times before I truly appreciate it. This film is not for everyone and I was really surprised at how dark it was. I have not seen Jody Hill's first effort 'The Foot Fist Way', but I liked his style of directing and comedy here, so I'll have to check it out. I do think that Anna Faris was underused in this movie, but her character was so unlikable that it really didn't matter
On TV:
6. THE EX. I happened to just catch this one as it played on Comedy Central, so it was cut up. I'm a fan of Zach Braff and Jason Bateman, I thought they played off each other really well and Bateman was the first character in wheel chair I've ever wanted to strangle, because he was such a bastard. I was happy to see that he got what he deserved. Overall I thought the movie was ok, I might rent the unrated version sometime to see it, but I did have quite a few big laughs and that is a plus. And it was weird to see Charles Grodin in a movie again, I looked on IMDB and that was his first film since 1994… and he looked old. The only reason I even knew it was him was because of his voice.
In the Theatre:
7. THE ROAD. WOW!! What a film. I've read your reveiw Brad, and though I've never read the book, i guess I can understand your criticisms of the film. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, infact it is my "Number 2 Favorite film of the year". I urge everybody to go out and see it. I'm still absorbing the movie, so I don't want to talk to much about it yet.
(Brad, I don't know if you will have a year ending column where people can post their top 10 movies of the year, but I am already compiling my list in my head)
Well that is all for this week, see on here next week possibly
(500) Days of Summer – I loved it! What a wonderful and original film. Funny and sad at the same time and also it left a hopeful feeling in me. I was very surprised that my friend didn't understand or appreciate this at all. She just sat through it very much bored and didn't like it one bit. I wouldn't call it perfect though, that's why I'll give it 4.5/5.
Mona Lisa Smile – I was surprised to find that I actually liked this. I was expecting to see the same type of chick flick that they usually are but something about this appealed to me. The reason I wanted to see this was all the girls that were the students. I've been seeing a lot of them lately, especially Ginnifer Goodwin has been in a lot of movies I've seen lately. 3/5
Beyond the Sea – I was inspired to watch this the other day because I watched – again – Robbie Williams at the Royal Albert Hall in London singing old american standards. I love that concert :). I didn't quite get this movie, an odd mixture of real events and fantasy. I found it rather boring and strange. 2/5.
I watched:
City of God — Was as good as the hype around it. Awed by it raw storytelling and unique integration of all the characters throughout the movie. It doesn’t hold back anything and is worth watching by anyone who likes epic movie from something not trying to be epic.
Pirate Radio – Was pretty good. Nothing great just a good movie to watch to pass the time. Decent music and a funny plot idea for a movie.
Lord of War — Good movie
Fantastic Mr. Fox was just that. Great visuals, great soundtrack, and I laughed a lot.
Hey Brad, the "no you're not, you're disloyal" line got a big laugh from a half filled theatre.
There is a Stephen Soderburgh blog-a-thon going on with a group I belong to.
I watched: The Oceans Trilogy. I loved the first one. 4 stars. The second one did not have the same magic as the first. 2.5 stars. The third was better. 3.5 stars.
Thanksgiving night I saw "Fearless". Jet Li's last martial arts epic. It's fine. 3 stars.
I also saw "Jarhead". I'm a "Gyllenhaalic". I loved that its a war movie that is boring in a good way. 4 stars.
@GregM: That's great, I also loved the bewildered security guard when Fox rolls in on his mini motorcycle.