SturgisPodmore

Oh, there's an image. ~Sturgis

Indeed, both are good, but Universal is more exciting. ~Sturgis

I said The Water Horse, though Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End are also very good, and Stardust has some great highlights, as well. But James Newton Howard's sublime score for The Water Horse wins out for me. ~Sturgis

Juno A funny, touching teen-pregnancy movie with a good message. B+ The Bourne Trilogy I got The Jason Bourne Collection for Christmas, and have thourghouly enjoyed watching it recently. I had seen Identity several times, Supremecy not at all, and Ultimatum just once in the theater, and watching them all together (over the course of maybe five days) was a great experience. They're without a doubt some of the best action movies ever made, and their realism is a key part in what makes them great. It's also somewhat surprising that the series has such cohesiveness, given that the first movie was directed by Doug Liman, while the other two were done by Paul Greengrass. Though they have different styles, they fit together nicely, and the moviemaking style of the second two films especially, with lots of handheld camerawork and close up shots, keeps the viewer right in the action with the characters. And aside from the action, the continuous mystery plot is thrilling as well, and keeps you thinking actively as a participant and not just watching as a viewer. These films feature a lot of talent including Chris Cooper, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, and in Ultimatum, Albert Finney. And Damon does a great job with the action and emotional scenes, as well. John Powell's thrilling scores tie the series together very nicely too, with several themes which appear throughout the whole trilogy. A few other thoughts on the series: I liked the character Marie; I don't know the actress's name, but I thought was very good in Identity. Though each movie has a spectacular car chase and a gritty hand-to-hand fight scene, the sequence in Ultimatum where Bourne is guilding the reporter through a crowded London terminal by cell phone might be the most riveting in the entire series. Joan Allen is amazing throughout, and the ending of Supremecy is sublime when she realizes Bourne is looking at her . Also, the ending of Ultimatum is great as well when we see and the end credits song begins (which is great in its use in all three movies, btw). I think I would have to say that Ultimatum is my favorite, followed very closely by Identity, with Supremecy, though very very enjoyable, not quite as high up for me as the bookend films. Overall the Bourne movies are great because they're about a man who is desperate to find out what is life has been about and why he's being hunted, and he doesn't have any gadgets or fancy cars to rely on, just his own brains and brawns. Without using any over-the-top CGI and while keeping the veiwer constantly on the edge of their seat, this series proves how great movies can be, and each film absolutely deserves an A. ~Sturgis

True, sir, true. ~Sturgis

You horrible horrible fanboy! Why can't you just accept that Hooper and Doyle wrote good music?! ~Sturgis

Wow, there's some costume temp-tracking for ya. ~Sturgis

364. He has been in my kitchen. ~Sturgis

I know you weren't being diminishing. I just remember some silly discussions like whether or not Williams could "get it up on a bumpy road" (not sure what thread that was in). He may or may not find it weird that other people discuss his bedroom prowress, I dunno. ~Sturgis

Yes, it's Thompson. She did the part uncredited. Thanks, Henry, I knew I wasn't crazy! I watched The Shining with some friends this Halloween because I know it's supposed to be a horror classic, and it was definately scary (the scariest parts for me being the twins in the hall and the flashes to the massacre, and of course Jack's craziness) if a little confusing. This was the first Kubrick film I had seen, and his unusual style was hard to get used to, with the sudden swells of dissonant music and sound effects, but I liked the weirdness of it all after a while. I got the whole hotel-control thing, but what was the deal with the sudden influx of ghostly happenings when the mom was running around the hotel at the end (particularly the seemingly inexplicable person in an animal suit she witnessed in a hotel room and then ran away)? ~Sturgis

to all. ~Sturgis

Okay then. ~Sturgis

I don't know as though the films were going to be changed a lot because of being Disney-produced. I mean, the PG-13 Pirates movies are Disney after all. I think it was just that they decided not to financially support and release and market the film. Saying I was glad they hadn't, I just meant that I didn't like Lady in the Water so I think they made a wise choice in ditching it. ~Sturgis, who likes the rest of Shyamalan's films, especially The Sixth Sense and Signs

Yeah I read that about Lady in the Water shortly before its release last summer and was disappointed in the Disney execs for not approving of Shyamalan's latest film. Now I applaud them. ~Sturgis

Interesting, thanks. And that tagline stuff makes sense, referencing his old films. ~Sturgis

395. He would be apalled at some of the discussions into weird parts of his personal life that take place here. ~Sturgis

Wow, it has the phrase "It's Happening" and the word "Signs" in the tagline, haha. And that uppercase "T" stood out to me too, Henry. Does anyone know any plot details or anything? Is this another alien movie? And do we know, or is it just assumed, that it has a JNH score? ~Sturgis, intrigued

I saw many a movie since I was here last . . . some that I had thoughts on (mostly holiday-season ones) are: Stardust Saw this in the theater in the summer and liked it pretty well, but I watched it last week on DVD and enjoyed it even more. It has great performances all around, especially the understated Michelle Pfiefer and the hilarious Robert De Niro. Although I can't remember the composer's name right now, I liked the score too; it's a standard yet enjoyable fantasy soundtrack. A- Beowulf It was alright, but I didn't find it very involving until the last half hour or so, and the drawn-out scenes with the Grendel family were simply agonizing. C Enchanted A good family film, it had some funny moments in its ironic pokes at traditional Disney films. Amy Adams was really good. Several nice songs, too. B The Golden Compass What looked like a good fantasy movie turned out to be, in my opinion, a pretty uninteresting and surface-level film. I haven't read the books, so I can't speak as to whether or not the story is good on paper, but I found the movie to be quite mediocre. Daniel Craig, billed as a leading character, was in the movie for about 10 minutes, and I thought the main girl wasn't a very convincing actor. The parallels between the "Magisterium" and the Catholic church were anything but subtle, and I thought what little theme the film had was pretty childish and one-dimensional. When the movie ended after the mess of a "final battle," I realized only then that I had just scene the climax. The lacking CGI didn't help things either; the polar bear fight was totally uninteresting to me, seeing as how it invlolved two computer-generated characters which I didn't feel like I had any reason to care about. A big disappointment for me. D+ I Am Legend I thrilling, scary, sci-fi-ish adventure. I enjoyed Will Smith's performance very much, especially in the emotional scenes. I liked the way you found out about his past in flashbacks placed at intervals throughout the movie; it kept you wondering about what happened to his family, etc. In the scene where he was roaming around in the dark looking for his dog, and finally stumbled upon the infected folks, I was scared garbageless, (despite what turned out to be rather disappointed CGI on the infected folks). And when "Fred" was moved . . . how unnerving! JNH's score was understated in a good way, and I liked the piano theme that I heard a few times. Does anyone know who played the scientist lady at the very beginning of the movie? I could have sworn it was the wonderful Emma Thompson, but I couldn't find a credit for that part on IMDB (albeit not the best sourse of information). Anyways, a good thriller. B+ National Treasure: Book of Secrets Though not presenting virtually anything new in terms of story or characters, it was an enjoyable, if predictable, adventure movie. Although I enjoyed Helen Mirren, she seemed to just walk around and exclaim things like "Oh my gosh, Benjamin!" and "Look at these ruins!" and very often "Oh no! Aaaahhhh!" towards the end of the movie. And what appeared to be the Gates family theme in the score was a carbon copy of the "Luke and Leia" theme from RotJ for the first several measures. B- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street I knew only one or two pieces from the soundtrack, and only a few vague details of the plot going into the movie, so I was thrilled continuously throughout the film as the action mounted. I found virtually all of the performances, several by very notable actors, to be great for their role. Depp was haunting and tortured as Sweeney, Helena Bonham Carter was subtle and sweetly devilish as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman was silkily smooth and evil as the wicked Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall was pompous as the Beedle, and Antony the lusty sailor (whose actor's name I don't know), Toby the young boy (ditto), and Pirelli the barber (played by the exquisite Sacha Baron Cohen) were all great as well. I was particularly suprised by Helena Bohnam Carter's performance, because I haven't liked her very much at all up until now. Her turn as Bellatrix Lestrange in HP:OotP was far too overdone for the evil and twisted character of the books, and she seems to land roles in every one of her boyfriend Burton's movies just because she's . . . well, his girlfriend. I found her to be brilliant as Mrs. Lovett, however, portraying her as a lovable woman who is at times caring and kind and at other times dastardly and wicked. Sondheim's music was a real delight for me as well. While pretty much none of the actors were great singers, they still pulled it off with a lot of panache. The main recurring theme, which is actually not played as a song in the movie, is simultaneously subtly twisted and bombastically evil, and is arranged into a truly amazing main titles cue in the beginning of the film (it remeinded me here of Williams' "Dance of the Witches" from The Witches of Eastwick, thought it predated that wicked gem). The sweeping and stirring love theme "Johanna" and the clever and waltz-like "A Little Priest," where Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett realize their business potential, were other standout pieces among a slew of great songs. I really enjoyed Sondheims's style of writing, with dissonant brass swells even in the beautiful cues, which fit and add to the music nonetheless. In short, Sweeney Todd was a thrilling musical treat that really revived my love for Tim Burton. A The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep I just saw this today, and though it was a fairly standard family film in the tradition of (but in no way approaching the greatness of) E.T., it was enjoyable nonetheless. The main boy did very well as Angus, the child who discovers the water horse's egg in Loch Ness. All the other performances were fine, too (and all the Scottish accents were delightful), and I really liked Crusoe, who was actually a convincing CG character. The best thing about the movie, however, was without a doubt the score. James Newton Howard's brilliant work made the film a lot better than it would have been otherwise, and it was great to hear the beautiful orchestral outbursts and thrilling Celtic jigs that I know very well from the soundtrack at work in the movie. B I also saw these movies on DVD: Hot Fuzz An enjoyable action comedy with a lot of great British humoUr. B Superbad An incredibly dirty, hilarious movie, and probably the most quotable film of the year. Side-splitting performances all around, and the only thing I missed was a proper send-off to the show-stealer McLovin. B+ Home Alone Remains one of my all-time favorite movies, which it wouldn't be without Williams' phenominal score. A Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix A step in the right direction for the series, with several really brilliant moments and scenes, but missing some of the key elements that make these stories so great. B+ Well, it was nice to finally post all of my thoughts after a long time away from the board, and I hope to be around more often now. ~Surgis

Happy New Year to all! ~Sturgis

Hooper wins for me. Doyle's score, while it has its highlights, doesn't feel as magical, with its bombastic trumpet blares and rather more standard chords in the "grand" cues. Hooper's feels more modern (in a good way), while staying in line with the magical feel of the films. Perhaps this is because Newell seems to treat magic as a new phenomenon, as if his film is the first, not the fourth. Yates treats magic more like a normal part of life, while still keeping the fantasy feel alive. The same holds true for the respective scores, in my opinion. ~Sturgis

Also very good. Complementary but not obtrusive. I didn't know who it was by but when I saw that it was Powell, that totally made sense. ~Sturgis

The Bourne Ultimatum Very good. A- ~Sturgis, who hadn't seen the first two in a while but now wants to revisit them

Indeed, the backstory is important to the series as a whole, but the details of all the characters' connections in PoA can be confusing for non-fans as it is. ~Sturgis

The Simpsons Movie Not a lot to say, but it was certainly a very funny and enjoyable time. It started out with a joke a second, moving at a fast pace of funniness, but over the course of the movie the jokes became more sparsely placed, though still very enjoyable. B+ Zodiac I saw this in the theater in March and liked it, and this time, my second viewing, I found it even more enjoyable. The first scene is quite chilling, and then when the killing happens, and the music (a 60s-era song) swells, it's a wondrous contrast to the horrific images. I love how the movie is shot; it's not showy, but the photography is consistently interesting. It has a nice retro 60s/70s look to it overall. The movie has a great first 45 minutes or so, with the scenes of investigation interspersed with murder sequences. The lakeside killing got my heart pounding just as much or more than seeing it the first time, even knowing what was coming. So many chilling scenes: the attempted murder of a woman and her baby on the roadside, the encounter with a man who seems to be the mysterious killer without a shadow of a doubt. You really feel for the characters; you get just as excited as they do when a new lead pops up, just as crushed when you find another dead end. One could argue that the film becomes less engaging as it goes on, with most of the murder scenes being in the first half of the film, but the investigation and the effects it has on people keep it interesting for me. I like how the movie doesn't show any particular bookended glimpse of the investiagtion; it just tells a story, and it spans a period of time as long as it takes to do that, going from July, 1969 to August, 1991: a length of 22 years. It's a pretty unique film in that, though it's about a serial killer, its purpose is to examine the effect the case has on those who try to solve it. A really great, really long film, with a lot of dialogue, Zodiac is probably my favorite movie of the year so far. A ~Sturgis

How do you mean? Seinfeld seems to think of itself very highly, and as a show kind of has that holier-than-thou attitude about it. When I've seen it, however, it's been predictable and pompous and not very enjoyable. When I think of Seinfeld, I think of really "big," "hilarious" gags, whereas with Friends, though it certainly had its bigger moments, some of the best humor comes from the more off-hand, smaller jokes that have nothing to do with the overall plot of the episode. And, of course, Friends had an excellent series finale, whereas Seinfeld's was quite unsatisfying. ~Sturgis