Last Movie You Watched

[DavidRoss]

Yes, and I enjoyed it.  I was wondering if your approval implied favorable comparison with the book, or just that the film is good as a film. 

I've read the first book and will probably want to read all three before watching the film (or films).  I don't want my own mental image of the central character to be replaced by the actress that was engaged to play her in the film.

Probably wise.  Ms Rapace offers such a fierce screen presence that it would be hard not to have your conception of the character colored by her performance.  I doubt I can ever read Tolkien's trilogy again.  Given the enormous popularity of Larsen's trilogy, and it's presumed potency in reflecting/shaping something of our collective consciousness, I expect to read him someday...and the critical response sure leads me to hope that it will prove more rewarding than reading Dan Brown!

[Florestan]

more rewarding than reading Dan Brown!

Wait a minute! Anything (except porn  ) is more rewarding than reading Dan Brown! 

[karlhenning]

Whenever I feel the shade of any urge to read Dan Brown (admittedly rare), I read the side panels of ten Health & Beauty products instead.

It is better.

[Franco]

Who is Dan Brown?

[karlhenning]

Good!

[Florestan]

Who is Dan Brown?

He's not even worth asking who he is. 

[karlhenning]

Maria and Irina did pass a pleasant hour in the cinema watching The Da Vinci Code . . . but you know, I cannot even bother to Netflix that sucker.

[Florestan]

Maria and Irina did pass a pleasant hour in the cinema watching The Da Vinci Code . . . but you know, I cannot even bother to Netflix that sucker.

I've never seen the movie, nor do I plan to do so in the next century but I can imagine it being more engaging than the novel (in the sense that in a theater you don't have much time to think, just relax back and watch the action --- but book in hand is a disaster for a thinking man. )

[Drasko]

Clueless as to why this would have 18 rating, there's no single nude scene in it. Remember seeing it first on it's theatrical release, somewhere in early 80s, I couldn't have been more than 7, my late dad used to take me to B-movies back then (spaghetti westerns, Hong-Kong kung-fu flicks and such).

[karlhenning]

Same typo in the closing credits of "How to Succeed in the Spy Business Without Really Trying."

[drogulus]

I've never seen the movie, nor do I plan to do so in the next century but I can imagine it being more engaging than the novel (in the sense that in a theater you don't have much time to think, just relax back and watch the action --- but book in hand is a disaster for a thinking man. )

     I would be rolling on the floor laughing if I wasn't so dignified. Are you really saying that you object to this book on the grounds that it's......untrue? I would imagine that considering the subject it'd be better to leave thinking out of it.

     Oh, I watched a movie called Unthinkable about a terrorist bomber who is tortured to reveal the locations of the bombs. How was this movie? It was almost (yes) completely (it's true) Unwatchable. Don't waste your time on this one.

[Antoine Marchand]

... I couldn't have been more than 7, my late dad used to take me to B-movies back then (spaghetti westerns, Hong-Kong kung-fu flicks and such).

... the best cinematographic education for a kid. Seriously. 

[Drasko]

... the best cinematographic education for a kid. Seriously. 

Agreed.



Carol Reed trying to recapture atmosphere of The Third Man four years later, falling short but producing quite solid film. Post war Berlin is as haunting but not as mysterious as Vienna, Claire Bloom is almost as beautiful but hasn't got the melancholy of Alida Valli and James Mason attempting to encompass Harry Lime and Holly Martins in one but falling bit short of both. Still well worth seeing if for nothing else than for one of the climactic scenes unfolding in front of background of Ljuba Welitsch singing Salome at Berlin Opera!!

http://www.youtube.com/v/u6B0cq10NQM 

[CD]

Sounds good. I love Odd Man Out, also with Mason.

[George]

Just short of great, but still very good.

[Todd]

The Illusionist is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.  Where to start?  The acting is great if you love the smell of ham.  Paul Giamatti is just wrong, wrong, wrong for his role.  Ed Norton's accent appears to shift several times throughout the film, and I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be.  He's about as convincing a turn of the last century man as Giamatti, to boot.  Jessica Biel is just not a good actress, no matter how easy she is on the eyes (which is very easy, of course), and I'm note sure if that's a British accent she's sporting – which seems odd given that she's supposed to be Austrian.  I think.  Only Rufus Sewell is remotely interesting, but it seems that he's prepping his Alexander Hamilton role for the John Adams miniseries.  (Another work of historical fiction where Paul Giamatti is out of place.)  The story is silly beyond words, the effects not particularly compelling and a bit out of place for the historical context, and the Scooby Doo ending is laughable.  (A series of flashbacks explain the biggest trick of all!) 

How bad is it?  Well, generally speaking I don't like the music of Philip Glass, but here it was the strongest element of the movie.

Blech.

[karlhenning]

Last night, again: Twelve Monkeys

Watching which now benefits from my having viewed the entirety of Vertigo . . . now I understand that in one scene, the soundtrack is actually an allusion to Herrmann's lovely score for Hitch. Achingly good movie by Gilliam.

[MN Dave]

WOLFHOUND

Heroic, sword and sorcery adventure. Not great but not bad either. If you like this type of thing, it's worth a look. Russian movie dubbed in English.

[DavidRoss]

I enjoyed this one quite a bit.  It's been too long to remember exactly why, but I do recall nice imagery (the essence of film), good music, and a stylistic homage to classics like Wild Child and Elephant Man.

Just saw Lone Star again last night, not having seen it since initial release on video more than a dozen years ago (my how time flies!).  Great.  Perhaps Sayles's best.  Understated craftsmanship that holds up well--perhaps a timeless movie...?

[MN Dave]

Just saw Lone Star again last night, not having seen it since initial release on video more than a dozen years ago (my how time flies!).  Great.  Perhaps Sayles's best.  Understated craftsmanship that holds up well--perhaps a timeless movie...?

I need to see that again.