Predestination. Absolute fiddlesticks of a movie held up by the notion of time travel, if you're into that sort of thing. And if you are, it tackles many other areas way beyond sic-fi with great success. I won't spoil it by saying any more. Myself not being a fan of Ethan Hawke, this role actually makes him watchable, but thankfully he isn't the only central character. Oh, and if you do watch it, you may have a reflex of trying to figure out the movie right away through visual clues, and the good news is you're absolutely right, you will figure out the movie in the first few minutes, except you won't know how right you are until you are slapped with what is really going on.

fury

pretty intense war movie ... your basic "band of brothers versus axis hordes" type flick, but beneath the bang-bang they're trying to say that war is a horrible thing that robs men of their humanity

it's quite dark, actually; they don't portray any of it as heroic

i quite liked it for that reason ... felt like vintage peckinpah or something

Interview With The Vampie

Saw "New in Town" and "Dan In Real Life" yesterday. My stepmom pretty much only watches trite, obnoxious romantic comedies or christian films.

Both of them had their comedic moments, but New in Town was a type 1 romcom (career woman meets the disgustingly perfect man and changes to please him) and Dan In Real Life was a type 2 (woman with let's-not-discuss-this past meets the disgustingly perfect man and is redeemed by true love, but has no apparent character development or life choices).

So I was pretty bored.

In case you're wondering, type 3 is where the guy changes to please the female lead (As Good as it Gets), and type 4 is where the flawed male is redeemed by true love without perceptible character development. (These seem rare, none come to mind. It's more of an action movie plot, maybe.)

I'm hoping to someday watch the perfect inverse-romcom, wherein a male with a happy marriage and nice kids is dissatisfied with his career and takes proactive steps to improve his socioeconomic standing without negatively impacting his family.

TOS posted:

fury

I was disappointed to learn it wasn't a Nick Fury origin story.

It's A Wonderful Life. Yes, I cried at the end again. I always do.

dv posted:

Saw "New in Town" and "Dan In Real Life" yesterday. My stepmom pretty much only watches trite, obnoxious romantic comedies or christian films.

Both of them had their comedic moments, but New in Town was a type 1 romcom (career woman meets the disgustingly perfect man and changes to please him) and Dan In Real Life was a type 2 (woman with let's-not-discuss-this past meets the disgustingly perfect man and is redeemed by true love, but has no apparent character development or life choices).

So I was pretty bored.

In case you're wondering, type 3 is where the guy changes to please the female lead (As Good as it Gets), and type 4 is where the flawed male is redeemed by true love without perceptible character development. (These seem rare, none come to mind. It's more of an action movie plot, maybe.)

I'm hoping to someday watch the perfect inverse-romcom, wherein a male with a happy marriage and nice kids is dissatisfied with his career and takes proactive steps to improve his socioeconomic standing without negatively impacting his family.

It disturbs me that you've seen enough of this human waste to categorize it.

agedgruel posted:

dv posted:

Saw "New in Town" and "Dan In Real Life" yesterday. My stepmom pretty much only watches trite, obnoxious romantic comedies or christian films.

Both of them had their comedic moments, but New in Town was a type 1 romcom (career woman meets the disgustingly perfect man and changes to please him) and Dan In Real Life was a type 2 (woman with let's-not-discuss-this past meets the disgustingly perfect man and is redeemed by true love, but has no apparent character development or life choices).

So I was pretty bored.

In case you're wondering, type 3 is where the guy changes to please the female lead (As Good as it Gets), and type 4 is where the flawed male is redeemed by true love without perceptible character development. (These seem rare, none come to mind. It's more of an action movie plot, maybe.)

I'm hoping to someday watch the perfect inverse-romcom, wherein a male with a happy marriage and nice kids is dissatisfied with his career and takes proactive steps to improve his socioeconomic standing without negatively impacting his family.

It disturbs me that you've seen enough of this human waste to categorize it.

Like Sydney Ellen Wade said the Michael Douglas' character in The American President. "A lot of first dates, actually..."

Somehow that worked better in my head.

::awkward bumbling Hugh Grant pause::

Had to pay quite a bit to get the seat next to the giant jars of mayonnaise.

Today I watched two Christmas classics.
"Three Amigos" and "Zorro: The Gay Blade".

"Here I yaaamm!"

Wolf of Wall Street

the interview

actually a lot better than i expected (i did do some lolling)

Online? I saw a news report discussing that Sony may have accidentally breached a change in the major movies distribution model. Screwing the movie houses, of course.

Watching Serial Mom now.

That's a good one. I bought a 4-movie disc of other movies I didn't care for just to get Serial Mom. I've got a fascination with KT anyway.

Three movies, all of which I could not finish.

White Christmas This movie has all the things that turned mye off of just about everything from my parent's generation. (Later I learned to appreciate a ton of art and music from that time--but not this type of human waste). There IS something I both like and dislike about Der Bingle's easy charm, I can recognize his considerable talent (always prefer him to Sinatra), but his demeanor almost comes off as douch-y in it's self- assuredness. About half-way through I really stopped caring. The type of entertainment that the characters work in has always been lost on me.

Anchorman 2. I liked the first one for what it was (funny but also really stupid), but this one had little going for it, plus over time I have developed a real dislike for Steve Carrel.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I saw this in the theater when it came out and really didn't like it. I have been seeing it referenced quite a bit lately and thought maybe I had missed something, and gave it another chance. Dumb writing, and Keanu Reeves is too awful for words.

Séamas posted:

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I saw this in the theater when it came out and really didn't like it. I have been seeing it referenced quite a bit lately and thought maybe I had missed something, and gave it another chance. Dumb writing, and Keanu Reeves is too awful for words.

The sequel is better, for once. Also, better than Wayne's World.

Guardians of the Galaxy: nonstop brawls and explosions occasionally punctuated by wisecracks or feel good shmaltz moments. Meh. I didn't hate it.

Failsafe (1964) Henry Fonda, Larry Hagman, Walter Mathau

Adam's Rib (1949) Hepburn and Tracy

Séamas posted:

Three movies, all of which I could not finish.

White Christmas This movie has all the things that turned mye off of just about everything from my parent's generation. (Later I learned to appreciate a ton of art and music from that time--but not this type of human waste). There IS something I both like and dislike about Der Bingle's easy charm, I can recognize his considerable talent (always prefer him to Sinatra), but his demeanor almost comes off as douch-y in it's self- assuredness. About half-way through I really stopped caring. The type of entertainment that the characters work in has always been lost on me.

To each their own, "White Christmas" is one of my all time favorite movies.

Ribtor posted:

Adam's Rib (1949) Hepburn and Tracy

This has been sitting on my "up next" queue for a while. Really ought to watch it. They were great in Woman of the Year. And that other one where they were both lawyers... can't remember the title.

Pithecanthropus posted:

Séamas posted:

Three movies, all of which I could not finish.

White Christmas This movie has all the things that turned mye off of just about everything from my parent's generation. (Later I learned to appreciate a ton of art and music from that time--but not this type of human waste). There IS something I both like and dislike about Der Bingle's easy charm, I can recognize his considerable talent (always prefer him to Sinatra), but his demeanor almost comes off as douch-y in it's self- assuredness. About half-way through I really stopped caring. The type of entertainment that the characters work in has always been lost on me.

To each their own, "White Christmas" is one of my all time favorite movies.

Even the "Sisters" number?

I think they do that thing three different times.

Labyrinth
It was half decent. The germ of the story was good, but seemed to get lost. Some of the puppetry I really liked--would have loved to have seen more stuff like the Shaft of Hands and the talking stones. Some of the others were ambitious but uninteresting. Bowie was completely underwhelming. I think he thought he could just "cool" his way through the character with no effort. Made for a very uninteresting villain.


A Serious Man
Liked this though it was fairly frustrating. It dealt with numerous parallels between Jewish mysticism/Rabbinic parables and the uncertainty principle.
I think the Coen brothers chose the period because they were so much familiar with it, but also because I think the late 1960s were a turning point of the American Jewish identity--something of a coming-of-age. It read fairly genuine to me--as a gentile married into a Jewish family. The characters look, dress and sound like things from my in-laws photo albums and stories.

Séamas posted:

Pithecanthropus posted:

Séamas posted:

Three movies, all of which I could not finish.

White Christmas This movie has all the things that turned mye off of just about everything from my parent's generation. (Later I learned to appreciate a ton of art and music from that time--but not this type of human waste). There IS something I both like and dislike about Der Bingle's easy charm, I can recognize his considerable talent (always prefer him to Sinatra), but his demeanor almost comes off as douch-y in it's self- assuredness. About half-way through I really stopped caring. The type of entertainment that the characters work in has always been lost on me.

To each their own, "White Christmas" is one of my all time favorite movies.

Even the "Sisters" number?

I think they do that thing three different times.

Yes, even the "Sisters" number. And for the record, the girls do it about 1-1/2 times and Bing & Danny do it once. The story is simple, the music is great, and the dancing is incredible; it's a good movie musical of its era. One of the best, in fact.

I imagine a generation or three grew up having to perform the "sisters" number for visiting family on holidays. My sisters did. They loved it.

White Christmas and Holiday Inn are a couple of my holiday standards.

I also like to include "Shop Around The Corner" and "Trading Places".

Since I don't do New Years parties, "When Harry Met Sally" is one of my new years eve films, after "Young Frankenstein" which has been tradition with me for over a decade. I've no idea why YF is a holiday film for me.

Pithecanthropus posted:

Séamas posted:

Pithecanthropus posted:

Séamas posted:

Three movies, all of which I could not finish.

White Christmas This movie has all the things that turned mye off of just about everything from my parent's generation. (Later I learned to appreciate a ton of art and music from that time--but not this type of human waste). There IS something I both like and dislike about Der Bingle's easy charm, I can recognize his considerable talent (always prefer him to Sinatra), but his demeanor almost comes off as douch-y in it's self- assuredness. About half-way through I really stopped caring. The type of entertainment that the characters work in has always been lost on me.

To each their own, "White Christmas" is one of my all time favorite movies.

Even the "Sisters" number?

I think they do that thing three different times.

Yes, even the "Sisters" number. And for the record, the girls do it about 1-1/2 times and Bing & Danny do it once. The story is simple, the music is great, and the dancing is incredible; it's a good movie musical of its era. One of the best, in fact.

Yes about three times total including the unfunny drag routine.

Séamas posted:

Pithecanthropus posted:

Séamas posted:

Pithecanthropus posted:

Séamas posted:

Three movies, all of which I could not finish.

White Christmas This movie has all the things that turned mye off of just about everything from my parent's generation. (Later I learned to appreciate a ton of art and music from that time--but not this type of human waste). There IS something I both like and dislike about Der Bingle's easy charm, I can recognize his considerable talent (always prefer him to Sinatra), but his demeanor almost comes off as douch-y in it's self- assuredness. About half-way through I really stopped caring. The type of entertainment that the characters work in has always been lost on me.

To each their own, "White Christmas" is one of my all time favorite movies.

Even the "Sisters" number?

I think they do that thing three different times.

Yes, even the "Sisters" number. And for the record, the girls do it about 1-1/2 times and Bing & Danny do it once. The story is simple, the music is great, and the dancing is incredible; it's a good movie musical of its era. One of the best, in fact.

Yes about three times total including the unfunny drag routine.

it isn't really drag... they just pull their pants legs up and use the feather fan thingies. Half to the fun of that bit is watching Bing Crosby try to avoid bursting out into gales of laughter the whole time.

But I will freely admit that old school musicals are most assuredly an acquired taste and certainly not for everyone. My wife loves White Christmas and we watch it yearly. Out of curiosity, we watched Holiday Inn this year. We won't be repeating that next year, as we found it lacked the charm of White Christmas that we find so enjoyable.

i skipped all the christmas movies this year ... the only one i watched was "bad santa," which i do find amusing (if dark and bizarre)

I've got copy of badder santa and considered watching it - part of my interest there is that it has John Ritter in it.

Snowpiercer.

Sort of a ridiculous premise, but it was mostly fun. Tilda Swinton is fabulous.

Last night i watched LOTR:FOTR. I'll probably watch LOTR:TTT tonight and maybe ROTK.

justine posted:

Last night i watched LOTR:FOTR. I'll probably watch LOTR:TTT tonight and maybe ROTK.

Theatrical or extended edition?

Extendeds.

Piranha 3D. In 3D via Bino. Oh yes, I went there. Had to watch it en Español, and seguramente was an improvement.

Anyway, it's great if you like that kind of thing (i.e. carnival sadism, boobs and blood). Dick-burping piranha was pretty impressive. Richard Dreyfuss has an amusing cameo.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Just great

Guys and Dolls (1955). Sinatra should have played Sky Masterson.

State Fair (1945). Disappointing. Actually I'm inclined to write, crap.

My Fair Lady (1964). Too long. Growing up I always wanted a library like Henry Higgins'.

and I liked Brando as Masterson, even though I'm a Sinatra fan and generally dislike Brando's work.

Ribtor posted:

State Fair (1945). Disappointing. Actually I'm inclined to write, crap.

My Fair Lady (1964). Too long. Growing up I always wanted a library like Henry Higgins'.

and I liked Brando as Masterson, even though I'm a Sinatra fan and generally dislike Brando's work.

His acting was fine, I mean, he's Brando, right? But his singing, which had to be spliced together from multiple takes, is really lackluster.

I'm with you on State Fair, apart from a couple of numbers it's not that great.

My Fair Lady is a great musical, but as with many of the movies of that era, it's very long. Guys & Dolls is 2-1/2 hours, as is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The King and I, Dr. Doolittle, and a multitude of others. I guess people had more patience back then.

I have a family connexion to Audrey Hepburn so I'm particularly drawn to her. Unlike Brando, she did very little of her own singing in her role.

I read that Rex Harrison did his own singing (talk-singing really), live into a wireless microphone, no dubbing. Brave for the genre.


South Pacific's up next.