What is the last film you watched?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Then the next day, I watched...

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Special Extended Edition

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Special Extended Edition

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Special Extended Edition

Yes, awesome, isn't it?

[John Crichton 4]

I watched Shrek 2 for the first time over Christmas. Not nearly as good as the first one. The original was a brilliant new take on classic fairy tales, filled with creativity. The new one was a bunch of strung together modern movie parodies with a much weaker story. Still, there were some good moments. Puss in Boots was good, I liked the idea of the Fairy Godmother being evil, and of course it had Cleese.

[Danielle 0]

Hmmm... half of a double post... not sure how that happened... :?

[Danielle 0]

Yes, awesome, isn't it?

Started at 12 noon, finished at 12 midnight... Fantastic.

I watched Shrek 2 for the first time over Christmas. Not nearly as good as the first one. The original was a brilliant new take on classic fairy tales, filled with creativity. The new one was a bunch of strung together modern movie parodies with a much weaker story. Still, there were some good moments. Puss in Boots was good, I liked the idea of the Fairy Godmother being evil, and of course it had Cleese.

See, I enjoyed the first one, but I didn't see it being anywhere near as good as it was made out to be. I enjoyed the second about the same as the first. Puss in Boots and the Cops parody were great though.

[Morlock 11]

Shattered Glass. A good film (8/10) produced by Tom Cruise with a very good Hayden Christensen! He gave a very memorable performance. He really surprised me, our good old Hayden. It really shows what a good director can do with an actor.

Good indeed. The character is one of the least likable characters I've ever seen. And Hayden did a great job. In retrospect, the classroom scenes are what really made an impact on me. Such a pathetic guy.

[A24 4,331]

Yes, and yet, I couldn't help but care for him. I mean, I didn't dislike him.

[QMM 4]

Taken

Got it for Christmas, didn't really have any expectations for it even though it makes it abundandtly clear on the box that it's Present by Steven Spielberg!

Overall I'd say it's merely a little above average. I enjoyed the beginning of the series when it was set in the 40's rather than the whole lead up to present day. The actors range from being pretty good to horrible (Dakota narrates the whole series which annoyed me incredibly until she actually got some screen time in the last few episodes, then she became pretty good) The CG jumps from being pretty good to laughably bad

The music however was great, the main theme is fantastic for the series.

It's an ok series but not the greatest series since Band of Brothers like the box proclaims it

[Morlock 11]

I thought it started out very well, a kind of companion piece to CE3K, but then it just turned into a soap opera.

[QMM 4]

There are also episodes that have just pointless pieces that push the plot nowhere, you learn absoutely nothing. Example-The hold-up hostage situation episode

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I just finished watching the 2001 version of Time Machine. Good God...

[IrishCal24 0]

Shaun of the Dead, which was much better than I expected it to be. I didn't expect it to be terrible, but I'm not a huge fan of horrie or zombie films in general. I also liked the fact that the comedy never strays into parody territory either.

[A24 4,331]

Shaun of the Dead, which was much better than I expected it to be. I didn't expect it to be terrible, but I'm not a huge fan of horrie or zombie films in general. I also liked the fact that the comedy never strays into parody territory either.

Don't know why but I find it difficult to go to the counter with this one. I always leave the store with another movie. I have the same with The Alamo.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Morlock 11]

I just finished watching the 2001 version of Time Machine. Good God...

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. Terrible in just about every single way. Only things that I liked: the actual going forward in time sequence was well done, and the theme is very good. Yes, it's The Edge, but the expansion gives it a totaly different feel.

[SeekUYoda 0]

I recently saw both The Polar Express (fairly cute, actually, although Santa was frightening!) and Phantom (well-done except for the Phantom himself!). We've already got a Phantom thread going, so I'll put my other comments there.

I saw The Polar Express in 3-D IMAX and do NOT recommend that format. Unless you're sitting dead-center, you'll have a lot of double vision and a big headache. And possibly some stomach problems...

[John Crichton 4]

The Princess Bride

Every five minutes of this movie is loaded with more wit and charm than most complete movies, while at the same time remaining a classic fairy tale. Add in a perfect cast and you've got one hell of a fun time. My only quibble is the grandfather/grandson stuff starts to feel more and more intrusive as the film goes on and you get fully wrapped up in the fantasy world. And Wallace Shawn's Vizzini gets killed off WAY to soon.

[Romão 2,274]

And it has a great by score by Mark Knopfler.

Romão, who has met Mark Knopfler in person.

[John Crichton 4]

Oh yeah, knew I forgot something.

That's the only movie I know of that he's scored, what else has he done?

[Romão 2,274]

Local Hero, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Cal, Metroland, Wag The Dog and A Shot at Glory.

[Lurker 5]

I watched Anchorman and Wake Up Ron Burgundy. Anchorman is still my favorite movie of the year, but the extra stuff really didn't add much. Wake Up Ron Burgundy felt like a movie compiled from outtakes.

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It proabably is Martin...it probably is.

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

I was going to reply to John's post about The Princess Bride by mentioning the awful score, but then I read Merkel's post. :spiny:

I hate the score in that film. The score is about the only thing that keeps the film from being "perfect" in my mind. The love theme is good. That I'll admit. But the rest just sounds like a bad MIDI or an old video game. Ugh. I'm getting nausious just thinking about it.

[HPFAN_2 0]

Collateral Very very very very good movie. Very well directed. It was gritty and fresh. One of the best movies of 04, Jamie Fox and Cruise put on one of their best performances.

[Romão 2,274]

Well, I'm sucker for Mark Knopfler's music. I own all the Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler cd's.

[Johnnyecks 33]

The Amityville Horror

Watched this a few days ago for the first time in many many years. Scared the bejesus out of me. And believe me, there was a lot of bejesus to scare out!!!

Collateral

First movie in my New Years Eve moviethon....

I have to agree with HPFAN here. EXCELLENT movie! Tom Cruise plays an awesome bad guy!! Jamie Fox was good, but the movie was just so damn fresh!!! Definately one of the best of '04

Napoleon Dynamite

Not quite sure what the appeal this was. Some have said it was hilarious, others said it was very good. I did not see ANY of that in this boring, un-interesting, duke of a film. Sure, some parts had me chuckle. But it was pointless. It had NO story. It went NO WHERE. I would've shut it off if Michele didn't want to see it. Damn women and their taste in movies.

The Shining

- The Stephen King TV Movie... not the Kubrick/Nicholson film

Not completely through the entire 4 1/2 hours of it yet... but so far it is pretty good. Better than I expected, and a lot better than his recent TV films (Kingdom Hospital, Rose Red).

[Morlock 11]

Collateral is indeed a very good movie. The ending is anti-climactic, but even that is much better than most shootout endings. Fox was good, but Cruise was fantastic in it. And I loved the Irma P. Hall scene (She's so much like my grandmother, it's unbelievable). A genuinly thrilling movie. And unlike many movies with a so called 'gritty' look, it never descends into that incomprehensible zone- I thought the night club scene was some sort of mini masterpiece. It's drive, the way Mann keeps it intelligable, the conclusion of it. It's wonderful. Like Heat, without the love stories (though that's half a really great, great movie).

I like Knopfler's love theme, but I agree the rest of it is terrible midi crap. Luckily, it wasn't mixed to loud, so it didn't hurt the movie, unlike Ladyhawke, which was ruined by that score. I like Wag The Dog to. It captures that 'working on it feel' perfectly.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

Shaun of the Dead, which was much better than I expected it to be. I didn't expect it to be terrible, but I'm not a huge fan of horrie or zombie films in general. I also liked the fact that the comedy never strays into parody territory either.

Don't know why but I find it difficult to go to the counter with this one. I always leave the store with another movie. I have the same with The Alamo.

----------------

Alex Cremers

I really like Alamo. Good film with intelligent characters. And I love the scene with Crocket playing his violin counterpoint to the "Deguello" (sic) up on the battlement. That's one goosebump scene!

[Composer_Fan 2]

I recently saw Lemony Snicket's...blah, blah blah and it was a pretty good movie. I bought the soundtrack, which has some really unique instruments on it.

[Saxbabe 28]

In The Cut.

Well, that was interesting to say the least. It could have probably gotten an NC-17. Meg Ryan is a great actress, and she breaks out of her cute good girl mode to play a sexpot, juxtaposed with a bookish prim outward appearance. The hot teacher type.

The plot is okay, cliche erotic thriller, but the human drama is well done. Cinematography is just beautiful, enhances the film a great deal.

Mark Ruffalo was very good as the conflicted detective love interest, I hadn't known of him before. (Fine looking man! Sorry - girl here)

The main problem with it is its soo slow. The first hour just drags. Pretty good film overall, just could have been condensed more.

[RenOldman 0]

It's drive, the way Mann keeps it intelligable, the conclusion of it. It's wonderful. Like Heat, without the love stories (though that's half a really great, great movie).

Just a question, Morlock, what scenes would you include in this great half (referring to Heat)??

Or rather, what would you cut out??

Edit: Fixed quote

[Justin 2]

I recently rented a couple of the discs from the new Star Trek DVD's. The episodes are pretty good but a lot of props really take getting used to. For example Kirk grabs a very strangly shaped rock in What Are Little Girls Made Of? A fairly disturbing image.

Justin

[John Crichton 4]

Sleepy Hollow

Johnny Depp certainly knows how to sqeeze every ounce of comedy, that's for sure. The cast is loaded with a bunch of great British actors, none of them getting enough screen time. The first half hour or so is really good, the murder mystery and town conspiracy plots are both good. Unfortunately, the story of Crane's childhood and romance with Christina Ricci's character (cast purely for her ability to look nice in a low cut dress and not for any acting ability or chemistry with Depp) are horribly tedious, pretty much killing the movie. The end has some fun, but the horse chase was a bit much IMO. And Miranda Richardson's supposed to be the villan, yet she has one or two scenes before the last half hour?

Elfman's score services the film adequately, no more. The final action cues are pretty good, but the main theme is pretty "ehh".

[Morlock 11]

Just a question, Morlock, what scenes would you include in this great half (referring to Heat)??

Or rather, what would you cut out??

More than half, to be fair. Basicaly, anything involving women in the movie was rather uninteresting. The rest was great, would've been a classic if the whole movie was like that. The movie is exasperating in how it mixes so much amazing stuff with spots of mediocrity.

I saw Angels In America. It took me a week to actually start watching it, and 4 sessions to finish it once I did. It's a fascinating watch. I was lost for a lot of it, but the performances and the visuals made compelling enough. It was different than I expected it. It was more linear than I thought it would be, but the stuff it was dealing with caught me off guard. Some of it struck me as weird for the sake of weird (Merryl Streep playing an elderly rabbi?), but most of the weird stuff made sense in their limited context. I can't really go in depth about the point of the series (due to forum rules), but I found it, all in all, to be very effective, and I'm glad I watched it.

The performances were almost uniformly fantastic- I thought everyone was perfect, save for Emma Thompson. She was just all wrong for the part in every way. Her American accent is one of the most annoying sounds I've heard from a human voice. Pacino was amazing, made a great character out of Cohn. Simon Callow and Michael Gambon were a joy to watch playing off each other.

I was actually underwhelmed by the music. After all I'd heard, I was expecting more. The music did not seem to be particulaly amazing in it, except that that main theme captured the series perfectly.

Also saw Finding Neverland. Schmaltz, but the good kind of schmaltz. I liked the movie, loved the performances. I thought the fantasy parts wouldn't mesh with the rest of the movie, but it was extremely well done, made it a joy to watch. And here's another acclaimed score that left me underwhelmed. Nothing particulaly notable in the score, save maybe the piano stuff over the end credits.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Mystic River, a good movie

[Morlock 11]

Mystic River,  a good movie

Yes. What did you think of the ending?

[Morlock 11]

Mystic River,  a good movie

Yes. What did you think of the ending?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes. What did you think of the ending?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

The ending was terrific/horrific, and sad. My favorite line in the movie was when Sean Penn said to his dead daughter, and I paraphrase, I know I contributed to your death, I don't know how, but I know I did. Boy was he right.

[Morlock 11]

Two oldies:

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. A surprisingly good adventure movie. It's well acted, the effects are amazing (and not only for 1958), and there's that great, great score. I love Herrmann in Harryhausen mode, it's totaly different than all other Herrmanns. The 'Cobra Dance' is fantastic.

The Swiss family Robinson. One of my favorite childhood movies. It's much less interesting than I remembered, but still has it's moments. Alwyn's score is quite good (I love those strings for the tiger).

[John Crichton 4]

Starship Troopers

I can't help it, I love this movie. Yes, Denise Richards has all the acting range of a pine tree. Yes, Casper Van Dien is off and on. But the rest of the cast is great. The farcical yet serious spin on politics (the Federal Network spots being the centerpiece of this) is the height of enjoyment for me. The battle scenes are wonderful. The effects are great. It's well written and well directed. Polderous' score is good but not great.

I might have to duck and cover for this, but I love this movie.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

It's an excellent satire. And Poledouris' score is great, one of his best.

Marian - who still needs the DVD.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Also saw Finding Neverland. Schmaltz, but the good kind of schmaltz. I liked the movie, loved the performances. I thought the fantasy parts wouldn't mesh with the rest of the movie, but it was extremely well done, made it a joy to watch. And here's another acclaimed score that left me underwhelmed. Nothing particulaly notable in the score, save maybe the piano stuff over the end credits.

I loved Finding Neverland. I never cry at movies in the theatre, but I admit that I did here (not sobbing hysterically or anything LOL ). Beautiful film with great performances all around, including the kids. And the score doesn't really seem spectacular, but it's grown on me and it's quite lovely. Very moving in a restrained, fanciful way.

Ray Barnsbury

[QMM 4]

watching Schindler's List again, even when I watch it in short bursts (usually I watch some before I go to bed) I still get a little teary eyed at "I could have done more"

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

Beyond the Sea. Entertaining movie.

[A24 4,331]

The Terminal. Mushy. I like the photography and the music though.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

watching Schindler's List again, even when I watch it in short bursts (usually I watch some before I go to bed) I still get a little teary eyed at "I could have done more"

really I get nauseated at that scene, absolutely wretched.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

The Terminal. Mushy.

However, the mushiness was the film's own main goal... Can we consider it a flaw then?

[Justin 2]

That's like saying if someone rams there car into you on purpose, is it still considered an accident.

Justin - Who really likes that analogy but has not seen The Terminal.

[HPFAN_2 0]

watching Schindler's List again, even when I watch it in short bursts (usually I watch some before I go to bed) I still get a little teary eyed at "I could have done more"

I cried like a baby at that scene

[John Crichton 4]

Patton

I've lavished praise on this movie a few times already in this thread, so I won't go into detail. I'm a history buff (it'll be my minor as I go for my Poli Sci Master's), WWII is one of my favorite areas to study (the US Civil War being the other), and Patton is probably the most facinating figure from that time. The movie is completely fair and objective in it's portrayal. It doesn't try to force you to think one way or another about him, it just presents Patton exactly as he was and lets you make up your own mind. George C. Scott transforms himself into Patton in one of the greatest perfomances ever. The script almost sings, with some dialouge coming straight from historical sources, including Patton's diaries. Goldsmith's little 30-something minute score is wonderful.

Well, that was a bit after all. Oh well.

[Lurker 5]

watching Schindler's List again, even when I watch it in short bursts (usually I watch some before I go to bed) I still get a little teary eyed at "I could have done more"

I cried like a baby at that scene

And it's completely fictional and never once mentions the diamonds the real Schindler had hidden in his hubcaps.

Neil