Movies Seen in 2011

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Starbreaker, Dec 31, 2010.

  1. KJbushway

    KJbushway Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2010
    No I haven't.
    Independence Day.
    Most of the crappy Syfy movies.
    I'm bad at coming up with lists on the spot, but your right I haven't seen many.
    Mars Attacks.
     
  2. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2003
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    When I first saw the trailer to it, the first thing that came to mind was Voyager's Relativity? Is there a lot more to it than that or were the comparisons fairly accurate.
     
  3. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2002
    Location:
    Gotham
    ^ I would say there's a lot more to it than that. I've read early descriptions of the script that was like "The Matrix" meets "The Bourne Identity". Even that doesn't really describe it properly though.
     
  4. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2003
    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Interesting. Might be something worth checking out then.
     
  5. KJbushway

    KJbushway Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2010
    To this list I while add the new transformers movie.
    Then that will be the best invasion movie I have seen.
     
  6. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    49. The War Room (A-)
    50. Paul (B)
    51. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (A-)


    The War Room: I'm a political junkie, so this is a documentary that hits all the right buttons for me as a viewer. Mostly set inside the "War Room" of the 1992 Clinton Presidential Campaign (with a particular focus on James Carville and George Stephanopoulos), the film has more access than most political documentaries you'll see.

    It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1994, and, judging from my unfamiliarity with the other nominees, it probably should have won. It's certainly the only film that's had any staying power of the five (including the winner). Of course, with the benefit of almost 20 years of historical perspective, it's harder now to get wrapped up in the Clinton campaign than it was for people at the time; most of the promises given, for a variety of reasons, were never delivered on.

    Apparently there's an 82-minute follow-up that was produced for television in 2008, but I haven't seen it.

    Paul: This is a fun little movie that likely features more than two hundred sf references in 104 minutes, though it's never as good as either of the Ed Wright-directed films that Pegg and Frost starred together in. The setting of the finale is quite amusing, though, as is the cameo by Steven Spielberg. And Sigourney Weaver still knows how to make an entrance. Enjoyable, but not to the point of requiring repeated viewings or anything.

    Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: I saw this in 70mm last week here in Los Angeles, and it looked great. It's also the first time that I've seen the theatrical edit since the film was in theatres (and, given I was four at the time, might as well count as the first time I've seen the theatrical edit). It's probably a little tighter than the longer versions that are available on DVD, though I might still prefer those. It's definitely not a perfect movie, but I liked it quite a bit -- even more than I remembered liking it -- and I'm glad I got to see it on the big screen.
     
  7. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    Check out War of the Worlds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Day the Earth Stood Still, all are classics and have been remade. Don't see the Body Snatcher remake though, imo, it's not as good. I didn't see TDTESS remake with Keanu Reeves so no comment but the original, while dated with effects of the day tells a good story.
     
  8. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
    2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
    3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
    4. Mamma Mia! (B)
    5. All About Eve (A)
    6. Looking for Anne (B-)
    7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
    8. The King's Speech (A)
    9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
    10. Black Swan (B+)
    11. Made in Dagenham (B)
    12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
    13. Barney's Version (A-)
    14. Out of Africa (B)
    15. The Social Network (A-)
    16. The Sound of Music (B+)
    17. Pulp Fiction (A)
    18. Forrest Gump (A)
    19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
    20. The Illusionist (B)
    21. The French Connection (B+)
    22. Network (A+)
    23. Incendies (A+)
    24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
    25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
    26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
    27. WALL-E (A+)
    28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
    29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
    30. Gigi (B-)
    31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
    32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
    33. Tarzan (B+)
    34. Oliver! (B+)
    35. Gosford Park (A-)

    The antepenultimate film of director Robert Altman, and the last one to garner really serious acclaim. Unfortunately for the late Mr. Altman, the Lord Fellowes seems likely to do to his film what Aaron Sorkin did to Rob Reiner a decade ago: turn their movie collaboration into seemingly a dress rehearsal for an acclaimed TV series. Gosford Park has the advantage over The American President in that Downton Abbey doesn't replicate the tone and character types to anywhere near the same extent as The West Wing did; and there's only one actor crossover, though it's a significant one (Dame Maggie Smith, playing basically the same character in both).

    Gosford is, in other ways, at a disadvantage compared to its successor series: a television series (even a British one) has considerably more space for character exploration and observation on class issues than does a feature film, and nobody in Gosford Park gets a ton of development, though there are still some memorable parts. In particular, apart from Smith, the standouts are Dame Helen Mirren and Kelly Macdonald. I suspect that Kelly Macdonald would have been a bigger "thing" in the 2000s if she spoke RP instead of with a Scottish burr, because she's really good here as the closest thing there is to a main character. People like Sir Derek Jacobi are totally wasted, though.

    I flirted with giving this a B+ grade, because in the end its more about the little details than anything else, but ultimately I thought the level of craft and enjoyment was too high for that. The plot is really, really easy to guess (so much so that I thought Helen Mirren's participation, at least, had to be a deliberate misdirection), but, again, Altman really doesn't care about that.
     
  9. od0_ital

    od0_ital Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2001
    Location:
    Nacogdoches, Texas
    Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief - HBO
    Tron Legacy 3D - theater
    Clash of the Titans (2010) - HBO on Demand
    Take Me Home Tonight - free screenin'
    Sanctum - free screenin'
    The Green Hornet - free screenin'
    Green Zone - HBO
    Fantastic Mr. Fox - HBO
    True Grit (1969) - AMC
    Ringu - DVD
    Black Swan - Alamo Drafthouse (its not just a movie theater)
    Unknown - free screenin'
    The Losers - HBO
    The Sunset Limited - HBO on Demand
    Starsky & Hutch (2004) - Cinemax
    Kick-Ass - DVD
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - DVD
    The Adjustment Bureau - free screenin'
    Rango - theater
    Red (2010) - DVD rental
    Hot Tub Time Machine - DVD rental
    Harry Brown - DVD
    Faster - DVD rental
    Jonah Hex - DVD rental
    Battle: L.A. - theater
    The Girl who Played with Fire - DVD
    The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - DVD rental
    Leaves of Grass - DVD
    Whiteout - Cinemax on Demand
    Sucker Punch - free screenin'
    Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - DVD
    Paul - theater
    Source Code - theater

    When I first saw the trailer for Source Code, I thought it looked retarded. I had a pass to see it for free last week, but couldn't get up to Dallas.

    So, since the local theater is so cheap, I figured, eh, what the hell? and went to see it tonight.

    Very cool movie - a lot better than the trailer makes it look.

    And I loved the voice cameo. Check the credits, folks.

    I've got a pass to see Soul Surfer Wednesday night, may head up to Arlington for that one...
     
  10. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    The remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still was pretty mediocre, but I thought the remake of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (that is, the 70s remake) was better than the original (which was also good).
     
  11. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2001
    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    Phantom of the Opera (1925) 3.5/4
    A Single Man 2/4
    Big Fan 3/4

    I had a hole bunch of stuff typed, but I closed my browser. :sigh:
     
  12. Too Much Fun

    Too Much Fun Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Right on. I feel the same way. I think that version has one of the best endings I've ever seen. I've recently watched "Bad Santa" and "Homicide". "Bad Santa" is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. When it first came out, I assumed it was just another dumb potty humour comedy. After I saw the brutally honest and haunting documentary "Crumb" and found out it was directed by the same person, I figured there must be something special about it with such a talented director being involved.

    While it is incredibly raunchy, it's also smart in a very crude way. Billy Bob Thornton seems to have been born to play the role (probably one of his three best performances after the much more serious "A Simple Plan" and "Monster's Ball") and few movies have made me laugh as hard as this one did.

    I love the weird relationship he has with the kid, as the kid accepts every off-the-cuff, filthy thing he says and still chooses to admire him no matter how profane he is. Lauren Graham was delightful too with her adorable Santa fetish and I love how the ending is kinda sentimental without compromising the movie's vulgar tone.

    "Homicide" was a very surprisingly thoughtful and intelligent movie. I was expecting just a cop movie with swearing and shooting galore, but it's more about antisemitism and how someone can be torn between how their job and their ethnic background can influence who they are in conflicting ways. It was cool to see Joe "Fat Tony" Mantegna in a strong live action role, but weird to see William H. Macy as a competent tough guy. I'll always think of him as the bumbling wuss from "Fargo".
     
  13. KJbushway

    KJbushway Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2010
    I've seen War of the Worlds(tom cruise)
    and The Day the Earth stood still.(Mr. Reeves)
     
  14. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
    2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
    3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
    4. Mamma Mia! (B)
    5. All About Eve (A)
    6. Looking for Anne (B-)
    7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
    8. The King's Speech (A)
    9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
    10. Black Swan (B+)
    11. Made in Dagenham (B)
    12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
    13. Barney's Version (A-)
    14. Out of Africa (B)
    15. The Social Network (A-)
    16. The Sound of Music (B+)
    17. Pulp Fiction (A)
    18. Forrest Gump (A)
    19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
    20. The Illusionist (B)
    21. The French Connection (B+)
    22. Network (A+)
    23. Incendies (A+)
    24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
    25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
    26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
    27. WALL-E (A+)
    28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
    29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
    30. Gigi (B-)
    31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
    32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
    33. Tarzan (B+)
    34. Oliver! (B+)
    35. Gosford Park (A-)
    36. The Princess Bride (B+)

    One of the films from Rob Reiner's glory period, and it's become a pretty big deal in some circles; you see it on a lot of "favourite film" lists, and several lines have been memeticized all over the internet. I didn't care for it quite that much. It's clever and well-cast in every respect (except maybe Chris Sarandon, who seems a little out of place), but it never really advances to the next level for me.
     
  15. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    Updates (in Bold):

    The Adjustment Bureau (8)
    Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (7)
    Black Swan (9)
    Broken Blade 3: The Mark of the Assassin's Dagger (9)
    Broken Blade 4: The Land of Disaster (9)
    Drive Angry (7)
    Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance (9)
    Godkiller (6)
    I Am Number Four (8)
    Infernal Affairs (7)
    Kamui (4)
    The Garden of Sinners Movie 8: Epilogue (9)
    Loups=Garous (8)
    The Mechanic (2011) (9)
    Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Awakeening of the Trailblazer (8)
    Munto: The Movie (6)
    Musashi Miyamoto (6)
    Time of Eve (10)
    Unknown (7)
     
  16. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    1. The Fighter: B-
    2. Batman(90's saga): A-,B-,C-,D
    3. Star Wars OT-Special Edition: B+, A, B
    4. The Green Hornet: B
    5. True Grit(1969): C+
    6. Lord of the Rings saga: (A,A,A)
    7. The Machinist: A-
    8. Season of the Witch: B
    9. Frozen: A-
    10. Due Date: B+
    11. Planet of the Apes(2001): B-
    12. Faster: C
    13. Romance: D (French film, subtitled)
    14. YPF: C- (YPF=Young People F*&^ing)
    15. The Beautiful Truth: B-
    16. Strictly Sexual: C+
    17. DOOM: C
    18. Brothers: B+
    19. Men In Black II: B-
    20. The Crow: Wicked Prayer: C-
    21. The Soloist: C
    22. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love: C+
    23. I Now Pronounce you Chuck & Larry: B-
    24. Battle in Heaven: C+ (Mexican film, subtitled)
    25. Legion: B-
    26. Battle: LA: B+
    27. Righteous Kill: B
    28. Dracula II: Ascension: B-
    29. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li: D
    30. You Don't Mess With the Zohan: C+
    31. Finding Bliss: C
    32. Dracula III: Legacy: B-
    33. Tangled: B+
    34. Paul Blart Mall Cop: C-

    It had some funny moments but I never felt like any of the characters had any chemistry with each other. The performances felt very wooden and things did not seem to flow well from one situation into the next.

    I'm also very over this portrayal of where the kids/teens are seen as wise beyond their years to the point of being wiser/smarter than the adult. His 10yr old daughter playing the matchmaker is a scenario I've seen done before but done in a more innocent manner. Nearly every line of dialoge from her felt like it should've been coming out of a 30yr olds mouth.

    The love interest angle, again, didn't work at all. The post credits "Awww they got married" was as inorganic as most things in the movie.

    Observe and Report was much better.
     
  17. KJbushway

    KJbushway Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2010
    ^
    I never want to see parts of that movie again, not exactly what I thought it would be.
     
  18. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2004
    Location:
    Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
    1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
    2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
    3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
    4. Mamma Mia! (B)
    5. All About Eve (A)
    6. Looking for Anne (B-)
    7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
    8. The King's Speech (A)
    9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
    10. Black Swan (B+)
    11. Made in Dagenham (B)
    12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
    13. Barney's Version (A-)
    14. Out of Africa (B)
    15. The Social Network (A-)
    16. The Sound of Music (B+)
    17. Pulp Fiction (A)
    18. Forrest Gump (A)
    19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
    20. The Illusionist (B)
    21. The French Connection (B+)
    22. Network (A+)
    23. Incendies (A+)
    24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
    25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
    26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
    27. WALL-E (A+)
    28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
    29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
    30. Gigi (B-)
    31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
    32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
    33. Tarzan (B+)
    34. Oliver! (B+)
    35. Gosford Park (A-)
    36. The Princess Bride (B+)
    37. All the President's Men (A-)
    38. Oliver Twist (B+)

    Another of the Best Picture nominees of the stellar class of '76, which is often said to rival '94 in quality. Based on Woodward and Bernstein's account of the Watergate investigation (the first few months of it, anyway), it's a rather remarkable movie in terms of generating so much interest out of a very straightforward plot that doesn't really arrive at any dramatic conclusion. The film takes a very docudrama approach to the investigation (comparable to Good Night, and Good Luck, but that film had a bit more character hook), and manages to make the specifics fairly interesting.

    Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman are very good in the lead parts, which are basically procedural leads. The film won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Jason Robards (the first of two back-to-back wins) as their editor; it's a good performance enough, though I'm not sure I'd have given him my vote. Also of note, when I saw the film got a Best Supporting Actress nomination I was a little incredulous, because it's a pretty big sausage-fest; but apparently the Academy was really impressed with Jane Alexander's two scenes as a nameless bookkeeper. Of course, this was the year that the award was won by Beatrice Straight for, basically, a single monologue in Network.

    --

    Having already reviewed 1968's Oliver!, I jumped back twenty years to 1948's Oliver Twist, one of David Lean's early films. I swear, the workhouse is the exact same set (or else, the latter is heavily inspired by the former). I've seen a number of Lean's early British films, all of which clock in under two hours; obviously a habit he grew out of in later years. This is a tighter and more faithful adaptation than is Oliver!; between the black-and-white, the lack of songs, and the grimier look, it's a lot more serious. The film's takes on the Artful Dodger and Fagin, for instance, aren't nearly so cutesy. Lean and co. have actually gone to considerable effort to replicate the character visuals from the novel's original illustrations, including outfitting Alec Guinness (Fagin) with a huge prosthetic nose that I understand caused not a little controversy. I guess they hadn't thought too much on the problematic aspects of the character. This is just about the only adaptation of this story that tries to include Monks/Edward Leeford and that aspect of Oliver's backstory, though at the same time the treatment of it is so cursory that I can't imagine it would make any sense to someone who hadn't read the book.

    Performancewise, John Howard Davies is a better Oliver than Mark Lester, but the film isn't really any more interested in his perspective than Oliver! was. And I really think that's what's missing that is necessary for a truly great adaptation of Oliver Twist: the film needs to get inside the title character's head and be about him. It's a bit difficult, partly because of the plot, and partly because of the young age of the title character, but all the same. The main area this film is deficient compared to Oliver! is Nancy. Here she's played by Kay Walsh (aka Mrs. David Lean), who, in her late 30s, is clearly too old for the part, and she's not nearly as effective as Shani Wallis. Her defence of Oliver comes about far too suddenly (though the writing is to blame for that), and her situation in general isn't given the same weight. Though the filming of the murder scene is quite striking.
     
  19. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    I am so far behind on posting movies that I've seen that I don't know if I'll ever catch up...

    52. 2001: A Space Odyssey (A)

    I had the pleasure of seeing Kubrick's SF masterpiece (well, one of them) in 70mm last week, and it was a terrific experience. Seeing the film in HD is one thing (and the Blu-Ray is gorgeous), but seeing it projected in this format is something else entirely. I've seen it in 35mm twice before, but this...I'd be hard-pressed to name something that approaches 2001 in terms of sheer spectacle. It's also quite fun being able to see all the detail that Kubrick made sure the film included. Every shot of the film (once The Dawn of Man concludes) has a bit of text or an image that can only be read or glimpsed by the careful eye. I love the film for plenty of other reasons, of course, but I don't think it's a new film to anyone here.

    And, if it is, go out and see it immediately. You may not like it (audiences have forever been split on the movie), but it's a cornerstone of SF movie-making.
     
  20. KJbushway

    KJbushway Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2010
    TrekWars by William Shatner. Should I even watch it.
    I watched that spider movie he was in, terrible.