So.... Seen Any Good Movies Lately?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Currently watching "Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth".

[The Curious Squid]

Just now saw Polanski's new baby, The Ghostwriter. Frankly, I'd have expected a deeper story of Polanski than that: in the end we get to know who the capital spy is, not the main suspect but his wife. Ewan McGregor is a great actor though, totally outshines Pierce Brosnan.

This isn't the ruin a good movie thread!

Also, did you intentionally call it his new baby because he's a sex offender or was that just a happy accident?

[Ian]

I saw Inception a few days ago. It was good.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I saw Inception a few days ago. It was good.

So go over to the spoiler thread and tell us who was right, Cobb or Mal.

[leo-rcc]

Currently watching "Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth".

Mothra cheats.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Currently watching "Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth".

Mothra cheats.

The other one switches sides in mid-battle. That's cheating for sure! No doubt Mothra offered sex in exchange for a shift of allegiances.

BTW, I just saw "Godzilla Raids Again".

[Animavore]

This is one of the dumbest movies I've seen in a while. I mean, it didn't even make sense, it was totally implausible and immensely incoherent.
I loved it
I mean, I'm starting get a little sick of these action movies that try to be "the thinking man's Die Hard". If I want a thinking man's film I'd watch Pi. I've always preferred the action movies of old, Commando and the Rambo series (of which, 3 is the closest to this film). Or how about these other action movies were geeks become super-heroes? Yes, I'm sure those type of films are a wet-dream to disenfranchised men everywhere but there's something about seeing muscle-bound jocks wielding high-calibre weapons and compensatory knifes knocking the heads off each other while snapping bone, popping skulls and rupturing viscera which really appeals to the primitive blood-lust which harks back to the days of gladitors and probably beyond.
The Expendables doesn't disappoint on this level. You find yourself cheering them on simply by virtue of being who they are, as opposed to because you actually care about the characters they play, who are so 2-Dimensional they can strafe into a crack to avoid bullets.
I laughed myself silly most of the way through it at the sheer audacity of it all. It's definitely style over substance and probably directed at the type of people who bounce their chests off each other while shouting "awesome".
If you don't like Rambo you won't like this.

[maiforpeace]

The Chumscrubber. Great Flick.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0406650/

[Jay G]

Lo Straniero (with subtitles) starring Marcello what's-his-name, from Italy. It's a film adaptation of The Stranger by Camus.

ALSO "Z". Fantastic movie.

[Animavore]

I didn't think it was that funny. That's not to say it wasn't a good film. It was quite bleak, the people were all emotionally empty, except one, some were even morally reprehensible. All of them were troubled. It was just like real-life.
Some people may find a couple of scenes uncomfortable, or maybe funny, or both. I think that's were the comedy is, in that nervous laugh you get when you're not comfortable with something. I didn't get it. Stuff like this is so common in my life it's more poignant than awkward.

[Ronja]

I do not watch foreign films to be snooty, I watch them because American film-makers seem to have run out of ideas or ambition or both.

+1

Sad, though. Luckily I don't mind rewatching good old movies. The Third Man, All About Eve, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Grass Harp, Blade Runner, Fried Green Tomatoes, Thelma and Louise, even The Story of Us, Sleepless in Seattle and Ghostbusters, they all had some point, and each their own, genuine style. You may find the point uninteresting or hate the style, but at least they each had an individual core.

Maybe it is a feeling of authenticity, that someone actually had a viewpoint and a story to tell, that is missing too often nowadays? Or is it just that they don't seem to be enjoying what they do, at least not so often, and that shines through?

[tattuchu]

I didn't think it was that funny. That's not to say it wasn't a good film. It was quite bleak, the people were all emotionally empty, except one, some were even morally reprehensible. All of them were troubled. It was just like real-life.
Some people may find a couple of scenes uncomfortable, or maybe funny, or both. I think that's were the comedy is, in that nervous laugh you get when you're not comfortable with something. I didn't get it. Stuff like this is so common in my life it's more poignant than awkward.

I don't remember much from that film. I'll have to re-watch it. But I did just see the sequel, Life During Wartime. The art-house theatre in town was showing it. Thought it was good. Kinda depressing, but I don't mind that. I like that, even. Not quite sure what to make of it just yet. Still processing. But I did think it was worthwhile.

p.s. I thought Paul (Pee Wee Herman) Ruebens gave a great turn in this film, as well as Shirley (Moaning Myrtle) Henderson.

[Trolldor]

I do not watch foreign films to be snooty, I watch them because American film-makers seem to have run out of ideas or ambition or both.

+1

Sad, though. Luckily I don't mind rewatching good old movies. The Third Man, All About Eve, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Grass Harp, Blade Runner, Fried Green Tomatoes, Thelma and Louise, even The Story of Us, Sleepless in Seattle and Ghostbusters, they all had some point, and each their own, genuine style. You may find the point uninteresting or hate the style, but at least they each had an individual core.

Maybe it is a feeling of authenticity, that someone actually had a viewpoint and a story to tell, that is missing too often nowadays? Or is it just that they don't seem to be enjoying what they do, at least not so often, and that shines through?

The problem is the market.
A film maker uses mass CGI and suddenly everyone's going to see it.
A film maker uses 3D and suddenly everyone's going to see it.
And people keep watching these same dull, uninspiring films *COUGH AVATAR COUGH*. Even 'indie' films - like Napoleon Dynamite - are fairly standard constructions these days.

Take a look at Kick Ass. A story about a normal boy who wonders why nobody's dressed up like a Superhero, decides to do so.
It was quite an engaging film right up until the point it actually went in to 'Super Hero' mode, and then it was like watching Spider-man all over again.

[Animavore]

It wasn't bad in the sense Dracula 3000 was.
Just a few problems. The Avatar being a white kid fucked me off. So, too, the other lead characters. Especially as everyone else in their village was an Eskimo. The Avatar kid couldn't act to save his life either. There were also so deus ex machinas that bugged me and some holes in the story. Also, I couldn't stop laughing any time they mentioned "benders". Especially when the granny says to her grandchild, "When you were born, we knew you were a bender."

But I could've forgiven all of that if it wasn't such a bore.
That's the bit I can't get my head around. All the right elements were there. It should've been brilliant. But I struggled to keep my eyes open. I simply didn't give a damn about the film. I realised this about 15 minutes into it when I thought to myself, I have to sit through more than another hour of this.

The 3-D was annoying me too. Was this filmed in 3-D or was it retrofitted, does anyone know?

[leo-rcc]

I'm guessing you are talking about "the last Airbender" that should have been called Avatar?