What is the last film you watched?

[Morlock 11]

I am finally seeing that on Saturday night.

Cinderella Man. One of the best pieces of Schmaltz to come out in recent years. It is a typical riches to rags to riches story, yet it still gets me this third time around. Russell Crowe gives a great performance. Rarely has such a good guy been so likable. Paul Giamatti is terrific as well. Rene Zelwegger does not quite manage to overcome the limitations of her roles...but she does have some good scenes. She also has one of the most painful lines in movie history, though.

Film's look is top-notch. Crowe's makeup is particularly impressive. Boxing scenes are very good. Sure, they take a lot from Raging Bull, but they really do feel emotionally charged. His wins, particularly the first one, are really uplifting.

This film is one of the many that show just how great a film composer Thomas Newman. He weaves the score in beautifully, and his triumphant theme for Braddock's two big victories hits all the right notes, those 'nailing the moments' that I live for as a film score fan.

Ron Howard can go either way, I find. His movies are generally either very good (Parenthood, The Paper, Apollo 13), or very bad (Da Vinci Code, The Missing, Ransom, Far and Away). Over here, surrounded by the right actors and the right crew, I think he made one of the very good ones. Making schmaltz work is no easy feat. Only tiem I can think of that I really, really cared about a boxing match on film. ***1/2/****.

[Red 75]

She also has one of the most painful lines in movie history, though.

Which is?

[Morlock 11]

"You are the champion of my heart"

[indy4 155]

One Survivor Remembers: A very moving documentary about one surivor's experiance in the Holocaust concentration camps. It was shocking, sad, and informative. It completely deserved its Oscar.

Ron Howard can go either way, I find. His movies are generally either very good (Parenthood, The Paper, Apollo 13), or very bad (Da Vinci Code, The Missing, Ransom, Far and Away).

I wouldn't say Da Vinci Code was bad. . . .

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Almost everyone I know loved that movie. I couldn't find what was so special about it.

[QMM 4]

There were like 3 false climaxes in DaVinci Code

[indy4 155]

Almost everyone I know loved that movie. I couldn't find what was so special about it.

There's nothing special about it, but I certainly wouldn't consider it a "very bad" movie.

[A24 4,333]

Is that the best you can do?

What's the point? Your ignorance is second only to your arrogance.

[Morlock 11]

Yes, I forgot- between the two of us, I am the arrogant one. Generally talking in absolutes, belitteling just about any film I don't like. Right. That's me.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Cloverfield.

As I expected, not what I expected. Chaotic, confusing and I loved every minute. Truly a movie that one either loves or hates. No indifference. A breath of rubble-y but fresh air in Hollywood. Drew Goddard is the Michael Giacchino of screenwriting. He is one of the best upcoming talents in the industry, having worked on Buffy, Angel, LOST and ALIAS, which happen to be my top four favourite shows (so I'm not biased).

I don't really know what else to say.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

I am finally seeing that on Saturday night.

Cinderella Man. One of the best pieces of Schmaltz to come out in recent years. It is a typical riches to rags to riches story, yet it still gets me this third time around. Russell Crowe gives a great performance. Rarely has such a good guy been so likable. Paul Giamatti is terrific as well. Rene Zelwegger does not quite manage to overcome the limitations of her roles...but she does have some good scenes. She also has one of the most painful lines in movie history, though.

Film's look is top-notch. Crowe's makeup is particularly impressive. Boxing scenes are very good. Sure, they take a lot from Raging Bull, but they really do feel emotionally charged. His wins, particularly the first one, are really uplifting.

This film is one of the many that show just how great a film composer Thomas Newman. He weaves the score in beautifully, and his triumphant theme for Braddock's two big victories hits all the right notes, those 'nailing the moments' that I live for as a film score fan.

Ron Howard can go either way, I find. His movies are generally either very good (Parenthood, The Paper, Apollo 13), or very bad (Da Vinci Code, The Missing, Ransom, Far and Away). Over here, surrounded by the right actors and the right crew, I think he made one of the very good ones. Making schmaltz work is no easy feat. Only tiem I can think of that I really, really cared about a boxing match on film. ***1/2/****.

Far and Away has a silly charm to it. I like it quite a lot, though its something of a guilty pleasure. Not to be lumped together with the horrible Da Vinci Code imo

[Romão 2,274]

Almost everyone I know loved that movie. I couldn't find what was so special about it.

It is a very very very bad movie

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No, it's almost exactly mediocre.

[Quintus 5,399]

Ron Howard can go either way, I find. His movies are generally either very good (Parenthood, The Paper, Apollo 13), or very bad (Da Vinci Code, The Missing, Ransom, Far and Away).

I enjoyed The Missing quite a lot as I remember.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Teeth

thank God Im gay.

[Ollie 1,059]

You actually watched that?

[QMM 4]

Cloverfield.

As I expected, not what I expected. Chaotic, confusing and I loved every minute. Truly a movie that one either loves or hates. No indifference. A breath of rubble-y but fresh air in Hollywood. Drew Goddard is the Michael Giacchino of screenwriting. He is one of the best upcoming talents in the industry, having worked on Buffy, Angel, LOST and ALIAS, which happen to be my top four favourite shows (so I'm not biased).

I don't really know what else to say.

Just saw it and I loved it

America's got their own monster movie now

[Ollie 1,059]

America's had their own monster movies for many years.

[QMM 4]

America's had their own monster movies for many years.

Well with general monsters yeah but one rivaling Godzilla?

[John Crichton 4]

My ETA on seeing Cloverfield is Tuesday, so I'm going to have to be very spoiler wary until then. I haven't watched any of the clips or even read any articles about it for a few monts. Glad to hear you guys liked it, though.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Yes, I steered clear of this and other related threads before I saw the movie but I ended up being the first person to have commented at all.

I will say that it's everything Godzilla should have been.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Teeth

thank God Im gay.

Why would you see that movie? Most ridiculous and stupid plot I've ever heard of.

Finally saw There Will Be Blood, and boy what a film! I was thinking I was going to be bored with the near 3-hour runtime but it was so well paced and interesting that I didn't look at my watch once. Daniel Day-Lewis was brilliant as always, and it's almost a guarantee that he'll pick up the Oscar. I really enjoyed the score by Jonny Greenwood, it fit the movie quite well. I was surprised by the cinematography, that should definitely get nominated alongside No Country, Jesse James, Zodiac, and Into The Wild.

Overall rating (****).

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Yes, I steered clear of this and other related threads before I saw the movie but I ended up being the first person to have commented at all.

I will say that it's everything Godzilla should have been.

Aside from the score, which is first-class Arnold. But I haven't seen Cloverfield so I don't know. Is "Cloverfield" the name of the monster? Not much of a scary name.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Indeed, a great score. And also a great launching platform for the international career of Silverchair.

"Cloverfield" is the military codename for "...the area formerly known as Central Park". A brief statement is shown at the beginning of the film announcing it, as the footage was found there.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Do they feed it a pile of fish?

[indy4 155]

The Day the Earth Stood Still: A very nice film. The moral was great, the plot was nice, and it was pretty entertaining. Nothing special, IMO, but I do recognize how much a classic this film is. ***/*****

The score was nice as well, I think I'll try to get it soon.

[Maglorfin 196]

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. The score is quite OK.

Planning on watching Heat today.

[Morlock 11]

Saw a lovely little Ealing film called Whiskey Galore!. It's the tale of a small Scottish town that runs out of Whiskey. Charming comedy. Reminded me of Waking Ned Devine. ***/****.

Amazing Grace. I'm sorry I avoided this film. It is not bad at all. Pretty good, actually. The structure of it is a bit strange, and sometimes feels a bit Hallmark-y....but the script is actually good, filled with some terrific dialogue. And I hadn't realized quite how distinguished the cast of this film was. Michael Gambon is wonderful, Cieran Hinds' is rock-solid, Albert Finney is surprisingly touching in his big speech (even though the pacing of the scene is off). Rufus Sewell is fun. But the two younger stars, Ioan Gruffudd and Benedict Cumberbatch, were more than equal to the task. And their friendship was very nicely shown.

Several good scenes (Gruffudd's scene with Romola Garai in the Garden is terrific, as is seeing Hinds running looking for MPs), and not many bad ones in this nicely drawn portrait of the fight to abolish slavery in the British colonies, something I'd never heard about.

Score didn't particularly strike me one way or another, though I do have the CD.

***/****.

[nightscape94 965]

Cloverfield. Did the job. Good friday night flick, a nice little twist on the genre.

[robthehand 3]

Saw a lovely little Ealing film called Whiskey Galore!. It's the tale of a small Scottish town that runs out of Whiskey. Charming comedy. Reminded me of Waking Ned Devine. ***/****.

Hmm, never heard of that one. The director, Alexander Mackendrick, did the original (Ealing) Ladykillers, which I absolutely love, so I might check it out.

Alien: I love this film, gets better every time I see it. The second half is genuinely thrilling and scary, while the first half sensibly takes its time to develop the characters. And what great characters! Superbly written and perfectly performed. Stunning visuals and sound, and that score... despite being chopped to pieces, it's still enormously effective.

- Rob, seeing Mystic River for the first time later on tonight, and looking forward to it

[Delorean90 42]

Amazing Grace. I'm sorry I avoided this film. It is not bad at all. Pretty good, actually. The structure of it is a bit strange, and sometimes feels a bit Hallmark-y....but the script is actually good, filled with some terrific dialogue. And I hadn't realized quite how distinguished the cast of this film was. Michael Gambon is wonderful, Cieran Hinds' is rock-solid, Albert Finney is surprisingly touching in his big speech (even though the pacing of the scene is off). Rufus Sewell is fun. But the two younger stars, Ioan Gruffudd and Benedict Cumberbatch, were more than equal to the task. And their friendship was very nicely shown.

Several good scenes (Gruffudd's scene with Romola Garai in the Garden is terrific, as is seeing Hinds running looking for MPs), and not many bad ones in this nicely drawn portrait of the fight to abolish slavery in the British colonies, something I'd never heard about.

Score didn't particularly strike me one way or another, though I do have the CD.

***/****.

Oh, yes. I love this movie--picked it up first day of release. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a top-notch film, with a fine script excellently performed by the actors. And I agree, Gruffudd and Cumberbatch were terrific. A thoroughly enjoyable film.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Watched 3:10 To Yuma today. Great movie, one of the best of 2007. Beltrami's score does justice to the classic western scores, Morricone trained him well.

[QMM 4]

Tried to go see I Am Legend again but in IMAX, but something broke and we got two free tickets. Instead of leaving we walked out and saw Cloverfield again

[Red 75]

Watched 3:10 To Yuma today. Great movie, one of the best of 2007. Beltrami's score does justice to the classic western scores, Morricone trained him well.

I also saw that today. It has to be the best western since Unforgiven, which was the best western since the Leone days. Really great film.

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

I watched Barbarella last night. Never seen it before. It was... amazing.

I laughed out loud when I read later on that Maurice Binder did the opening credits, particularly because I didn't catch his name in the actual credits (for obvious reasons).

[A24 4,333]

Alien: I love this film, gets better every time I see it. The second half is genuinely thrilling and scary, while the first half sensibly takes its time to develop the characters. And what great characters! Superbly written and perfectly performed. Stunning visuals and sound, and that score... despite being chopped to pieces, it's still enormously effective.

You're forgetting the most important part: the film's environment .

[Romão 2,274]

It's totally engrossing, I agree. It defined a genre.

[Maglorfin 196]

Watched 3:10 To Yuma today. Great movie, one of the best of 2007.

I also heard that, but have not yet seen the movie. I also never saw the 1957 original, of which the 2007 version is a remake. I'm planning to watch the remake pretty soon.

Yesterday, however, I saw Cast Away. Interesting, Silvestri's score only comes in around 1 1/2 hrs into the movie.

[Morlock 11]

That's a famously gracefully spotted movie. No music in the middle (and exceptional) section of the film, and it's all the better for it.

3:10 to Yuma is so far my favorite 2007 score within the film. And the album's terrific, too.

[Richard Penna 3,688]

Watched MI:3 and Stardust yesterday. The former is totally preposterous of course but just downright entertaining. The latter can only be described as magical, and a film with a very good (if slightly odd) sense of humour. Both recommended.

My to-watch list at the moment includes 3:10 to Yuma, Beowulf, and The Bourne Ultimatum.

[A24 4,333]

The Apartment: Nice and cozy. The young Shirley Maclaine is quite amiable.

The Virgin Suicides: Good film. Coppola shows she's got talent. Good use of 70s music. Kirsten Dunst, James Woods and Josh Harnett play their parts very well. ***

[QMM 4]

There Will Be Blood

Everybody should see this movie, moreso than No Country for Old Men

[Elmo Lewis 6]

The Apartment: Nice and cozy. The young Shirley Maclaine is quite amiable.

The Apartment is "nice"? So you've finally died on the inside.

[Ollie 1,059]

Cloverfield.

Sometimes we over analyze movies and look for too much within them. Sometimes films just need to be viewed as they are presented and nothing more, this was one of those times.

Didn't get caught up in the pre-hype but this film is very good and presents probably the most "realistic" version of a monster attack on a city.

The story is simple, during a party a unknown creature appears in New York and proceeds to lay waste to the city while a group of the party goers attempt to flee and rescue their friend.

I thought the military action was as close to believable as I've seen in a monster film. I enjoyed the fact that the creature isn't shown in it's full glory, I thought the news coverage was realistic and while it was hard at times to see the images on screen I enjoyed the camcorder angle.

The creature looked like a twisted slim version of Orga from Godzilla 2000.

I thought the film captured the terror and the panic of people and their fright of the unknown when something suddenly happens and you must react.

Was there a hidden message in the film, maybe a 9/11 reference? Who knows,all I know is that while this isn't the greates film or monster movie made, it did what it set out to do and that was deliver and entertain.

Oh, Giacchino's Roar! is a perfect tribute to the old monster movies and a very nice tip of the hat to Akira Ifukube. When the end credits started I leaned over to my son and said that sounds like Ifukube, he had a big smile and nod in agreement.

[Morlock 11]

Atonement. Dissapointing. Greatly dissapointing, actually, as I had high hopes for the team that brought us Pride and Prejudice. Not much worked for me in the film.

The first half, which is essentially the first act, is all well and good. Love story turned tragedy set in an English country house.

Than there's the second half. I was just about entirely uninvolved by everything in this part of the movie. The character of Briony is not convincing in this, she feels like a two dimensional plot point. Keira Knightly's character is barely evident, and her passion for James Macavoy is unconvincing. Macavoy gives a strong performance throughout....but the war scenes are entirely uninvolving. There's that shot of the dead schoolgirls, which feels almost as awkward as the dead bodies floating down river in War of the Worlds. No effect. There's the backdrop of Dunkirk. No effect. Dunkirk never struck me as a particularly interesting place, until it became the famous evacutation. A lot of importance is given to time before the evactuation, which doesn't seem like it should be nearly as charged as the movie makes it (or, at least, not in the way the movie makes it). There's the much-talked about unbroken shot. It is entirely ineffective as story-telling. It is impressive technically, but only technically. What we are seeing in this shot is of absolutely no significance.

The entire second act failed to interest me until the epilogue.

The epilogue. That is the crust the of the story, and the bottom line. The twist it reveals has very little impact, as I was barely involved in the preceeding scenes affected by the twist. I can imagine that it would read very well in the book. In general, this is a movie that makes me want to read the book.

I did like Macavoy in the movie. The girl playing the young Briony is good. I imagine that Vanessa Redgrave would be great if I gave a crap about what she was saying. Cinematography is fine, not nearly as impressive as the previous film, though. The score is very good. The typwriter motif was a bit jarring initially, but works well a the movie progresses. 'Elegy for Dunkirk's power was robbed for me by the pointlessness of what was on screen.

The only message I got clearly from the movie is that a certain very vulgar four letter word can put people in jail.

VERY dissapointing. **/****.

[A24 4,333]

Hmm, this might be good!

[Morlock 11]

As much as it would be nice to hear you liking a movie that isn't 20 years old, I somehow doubt this one will do the trick. Unless you've read the book. Most critics who love the film seem to know the book.

[A24 4,333]

As much as it would be nice to hear you liking a movie that isn't 20 years old ...

You must have me confused with someone else.

[tpigeon 3]

I thought "Atonement" was very good. He didn't go to jail for writing a four letter word. He went to jail due to the circumstances surrounding a young girl's projecting her own narrative and vision into the lives of others. The note just helped her argument.

I recently saw three movies: "There Will Be Blood," "Broken English," and "Paprika." I must say I don't quite understand the hype over "There Will Be Blood." The movie simply didn't involve me. I followed it more because I felt that I should have (based on all the talk about the film), not because I really wanted to. It didn't grab me at all. "Broken English" was a nice film; a good debut for another Cassavettes. "Paprika" was quite good; easily one of the best of the year. Then again, I have a soft spot for films dealing with dreams, cinema, and the connection between the two. I'm not a Jungian, but I love reading about it.

Ted

[Morlock 11]

I thought "Atonement" was very good. He didn't go to jail for writing a four letter word.

Oh, yes he did. I felt it was implied that the word convinced the parents he was vulgar, which to them was the same as being a rapist.

As much as it would be nice to hear you liking a movie that isn't 20 years old ...

You must have me confused with someone else.

Okay....last movie released that you really, really liked? Last one that comes to mind is Fight Club (1999).