Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

I hated American Beauty.  Fine craftsmanship in the service of dreck.

Hi David - I also disliked this film, just to put in another 'negative' - Dave 

[DavidRoss]

Hi David - I also disliked this film, just to put in another 'negative' - Dave 

No matter how admirable the craftsmanship, as a conscious allegory about American culture it was horribly bigoted and offensive, akin to Nazi propaganda about Jews.  And making the only character with anything resembling integrity a drug dealer was almost criminally irresponsible, given the impressionable adolescents who are the primary movie-going audience.

[Philoctetes]

Cage? Nicholas Cage? Impossible, Kevin Spacey is a great actor. Cage is a damn actor overacted.

I'll disagree with you there, with greatness of vigor.

[Philoctetes]

I hated American Beauty.  Fine craftsmanship in the service of dreck.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. I thought the plot was as pretentious as anything done by Diablo Cody, but the camera work, was astonishing, plus effing Chris Cooper, who won the day.

[Philoctetes]

No matter how admirable the craftsmanship, as a conscious allegory about American culture it was horribly bigoted and offensive, akin to Nazi propaganda about Jews.  And making the only character with anything resembling integrity a drug dealer was almost criminally irresponsible, given the impressionable adolescents who are the primary movie-going audience.

Well I think that was sort of the point. It was supposed to be an over-the-top allegory. I viewed it as a satire on the 'American' dream. Although, I think you were being quite hyperbolic in your rebuttal, so I can't agree with you all out there.

[Drasko]

http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fnf01n8.html

[AndyD.]

Inside

Que'lle Horreur! One of the most intense gore flicks I've ever seen.

[Drasko]

[Brian]

My favorite scene from The Band's Visit (begins at 0:27)

[Saul]

One of the best Westerns...

Appaloosa

[karlhenning]

Watched The Bobs Sing! (And Other Love Songs) with Mamochka last night. A lot of the verbal play eluded her, to be sure, but she was amply impressed with the musical performance.

[DavidW]

Oh noo! One Netflix movie, wasted. I've had movies like Hatchet, Human Centipede, and Inside reccomended.

Can't wait to check out "The Walking Dead".

btw I've seen Human Centipede now.  Revoltingly gross, shocking.  Ebert gave it no stars, he said that it resides in a place where there are no stars.  It's kind of weird.

[AndyD.]

btw I've seen Human Centipede now.  Revoltingly gross, shocking.  Ebert gave it no stars, he said that it resides in a place where there are no stars.  It's kind of weird.

I've held back on that one.

Tonight: The Thaw

I think the Evil Dead dude (I loved writing that) put this one out. Stars Val Kilmer and a bunch of creepy looking prehistoric parasite bugs. Not bad at all, some nasty swarming burrowing insect fu; the end was both predictable and a bit maudlin.

[Conor71]

Pretty entertaining!

[Brian]

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer's best movie is still his first movie, Top Secret!, in which he even sang his own songs.

[AndyD.]

Val Kilmer's best movie is still his first movie, Top Secret!, in which he even sang his own songs.

Hey, I haven't seen that one yet!Is it good? I'm a big fan of corny (one of my favorite movies is the Jerk).

[Brahmsian]

Hey, I haven't seen that one yet!Is it good? I'm a big fan of corny (one of my favorite movies is the Jerk).

Then do check out Top Secret.  BTW, when my father bought our family our first VCR in Christmas 1984, that was the very first movie we watched on the VCR.  The very first movie we taped was The Amityville Horror.  I don't why I still remember this, but I remember very precise details of my childhood. 

[Sergeant Rock]

Hey, I haven't seen that one yet!Is it good?

It's a comic masterpiece...really. You must see it. Insanely funny. A parody of spy movies, WWII drama and Elvis Presley musicals. An American rock 'n' roll singer goes on tour in communist East Germany and eventualy joins the French Resistance    Three and half stars from Ebert.

Sarge

[Antoine Marchand]

Then do check out Top Secret.  BTW, when my father bought our family our first VCR in Christmas 1984, that was the very first movie we watched on the VCR.  The very first movie we taped was The Amityville Horror.  I don't why I still remember this, but I remember very precise details of my childhood. 

the same year or one year later, played on a Betamax VCR, our first movies were two movies of Jackie Chan:

Drunken Master

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

Nice memories!

[Brahmsian]

I decided to try a movie related to classical music, in this case the international box office sensation Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky.  The "big" star here is Mads Mikkelsen as the titular composer.  Otherwise the film is stuffed with actors and actresses I don't recall ever having seen before.  First things first: This film is gorgeous.  The sets, the costumes, the scenery, the photography – all are top notch.  And at the beginning of the movie there is an abbreviated take on the first performance of The Rite of Spring, with all major players included – Diaghilev, Nijinsky, and even Monteux are all on screen.  The performance is tame-ish by modern standards, and the dancing is not especially shocking, either, though by 1913 standards, it's easy to see why it caused something of a ruckus.

Everything else is a bit less compelling.  What's the point of the affair between these two, and where is the passion?  I don't know too much about the two main characters' personal lives, mostly because I couldn't care less about such things, so I don't know how accurate the portrayals are, not that that matters in any way in a film.  Mikkelsen renders Stravinsky a bit wimpier than I would have thought appropriate, and Anna Mouglalis actress who plays Chanel makes her a cold, manipulative, and assertive woman.  Both are good as far as it goes, and Ms Mouglalis strikes me as a talented, attractive amalgam of Cate Blanchet and Madeleine Stowe, with a hypnotic, giraffe-like neck thrown in for good measure.  I do wish the movie made less use of The Rite throughout the movie, most of which is set in 1920, and that there was more to latch onto.  Still, it was enjoyable enough for one viewing.

My wife and I are watching this tonight.