It's Back: Exceelent Movies I've Seen Lately

[Trautdiggity]

One of my favorite threads as there are always good insights into movies I may have missed.

Saw The Town and thought it was very entertaining. It's amazing how Affleck can be so terrible in most situations but does fine when he's playing a Boston townie. Jeremy Renner is very good and from what I've heard, absent Christian Bale could have had a shot at the Oscar (I haven't seen the Fighter yet but sounds like a lock).

Also watched Despicable Me and really enjoyed it (more than Toy Story 3). Surprised it didn't get an Oscar nom.

[TranaGreg]

Speaking of Affleck, we saw The Company Men on the weekend. Good flick, I went into it with a bit of a cynical edge but came out finding the whole thing very well done. A very good account of the transition (or earthquake, depending on where you sit) our economy & society is going through.

[off_the_wall]

Speaking of Affleck, we saw The Company Men on the weekend. Good flick, I went into it with a bit of a cynical edge but came out finding the whole thing very well done. A very good account of the transition (or earthquake, depending on where you sit) our economy & society is going through.

The trailer made the movie seem like a snoozer despite the good cast.

[revo]

Finally saw Secretariat last night, and as a horse racing fan and Secretariat aficionado, I'm pre-disposed to love it. But that said, I was disappointed with the dramatic liberties taken with the plot. It's OK for Disney to add a dramatic scene in their sports movies to drive home a point -- like the radar gun pitch on the highway in 'The Rookie,' -- but when they start concocting history, it's another.

I think 99 out of 100 would not know (or care) that it was in fact Secretariat's stablemate Riva Ridge who saved The Meadow Stable from going under. Riva Ridge was 2-year old champion in 1971 and then took the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont -- this all before Secretariat even made his 1st start in July 1972. Riva Ridge was also trained by Lucien Laurin (played by John Malkovich), so basically Laurin, jockey Ron Turcotte and Meadow Stable were on a historic tear when Secretariat took the Triple Crown.

[Teenwolf]

Love and Other Drugs - One of the better romantic comedies I've seen. If you're one of those guys in a relationship that occasionally has to put up with rom-coms, I'd highly recommend this one. Also, you get to see Anne Hathaway naked, quite a bit. Just don't mention that aspect to the GF when you're trying to sell her on it, and act shocked when it gets to those parts.

She's Out Of My League - Can you tell that I wanted to shut my brain off? This movie isn't as bad as it looks, or as I expected. Nasal Jay Baruchel can get a little bit annoying, but this is easy to watch, and another you may want to watch with your significant other.

Four Lions - Pretty odd comedy, about Muslim terrorists in the UK, trying to martyr themselves in a suicide bombing. I quite liked it, and found it pretty amazing that you end up rooting for the terrorists. I don't know if this is out yet, but here's the trailer:

[off_the_wall]

Just saw The Prestige. Meh.

Easily the worst Christopher Nolan movie that I've seen. Plot holes that you could drive a truck through. I think this might also be the only time I've seen Christian Bale give a bad acting performance. Parts of the movie were intriguing and kept me entertained but this was a C+ movie at best.

I liked this movie, a lot (granted, I did think Hugh Jackman out-acted Bale in this movie). Certainly better than the Illusionist released around the same time. A mediocre Nolan movie still better than 75% of what's out there.

[Gregg]

Love and Other Drugs - One of the better romantic comedies I've seen. If you're one of those guys in a relationship that occasionally has to put up with rom-coms, I'd highly recommend this one. Also, you get to see Anne Hathaway naked, quite a bit. Just don't mention that aspect to the GF when you're trying to sell her on it, and act shocked when it gets to those parts.

"when I am trying to sell her on it"...what!? No selling, no Love and Other Drugs, I am not going. Now if she wants to try and sell me on it, the bidding is going to start way higher than a naked Anne Hathaway (no offense Ms Hathaway as I know you are a frequent lurker). New York Strip medium rare, mushrooms and onions, bake potato before hand. Afterwards MLB and a nice back rub.

Did you lose your man card?

[Hornsby]

Just saw The Prestige. Meh.

Easily the worst Christopher Nolan movie that I've seen. Plot holes that you could drive a truck through. I think this might also be the only time I've seen Christian Bale give a bad acting performance. Parts of the movie were intriguing and kept me entertained but this was a C+ movie at best.

The book was even worse...badly written and poorly thought out. I have no idea how this thing was made into a movie...let alone get "A" actors and a great director attached to it.

[ironfist]

I liked this movie, a lot (granted, I did think Hugh Jackman out-acted Bale in this movie). Certainly better than the Illusionist released around the same time. A mediocre Nolan movie still better than 75% of what's out there.

I thought it was good too, but a bit overrated. I thought that the "twist" at the end was too obvious. I think I actually liked the Illusionist better because it didn't have the weird sci-fi aspect to it that the Prestige had.

[Teenwolf]

"when I am trying to sell her on it"...what!? No selling, no Love and Other Drugs, I am not going. Now if she wants to try and sell me on it, the bidding is going to start way higher than a naked Anne Hathaway (no offense Ms Hathaway as I know you are a frequent lurker). New York Strip medium rare, mushrooms and onions, bake potato before hand. Afterwards MLB and a nice back rub.

Did you lose your man card?

I watched Love and Other Drugs all alone, for fun! Really, I liked it. First, it reverses the typical roles of the guy as the player, girl as the romantic, in a convincing way. Second, unlike most rom-coms, where one of the dummies misinterprets an overheard telephone conversation of the other dummies' (or something similar), the dynamics of this relationship feel genuine. And thirdly, Anne Hathaway has lovely jubblies.

[NakedRicci]

I liked this movie, a lot (granted, I did think Hugh Jackman out-acted Bale in this movie). Certainly better than the Illusionist released around the same time. A mediocre Nolan movie still better than 75% of what's out there.

I agree, I enjoyed this film as well. Not really my bag frankly, as I typically prefer the more indie/art film style, but I liked it.

[B-Fly]

On Saturday night, Beth and I got to only our fourth movie in an actual movie theater since our daughter was born in September 2008. We've got to work harder to line up sitters, because we miss the movies and watching DVDs in our living room after Marlee goes to sleep ain't the same. We saw Blue Valentine, which while certainly not uplifting, was a really excellent film with great performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. One caveat - this is not a movie to see with a date or if you're questioning your relationship. You'll walk out and vow never to speak to each other again.

[revo]

Just saw The Prestige. Meh.

Easily the worst Christopher Nolan movie that I've seen. Plot holes that you could drive a truck through. I think this might also be the only time I've seen Christian Bale give a bad acting performance. Parts of the movie were intriguing and kept me entertained but this was a C+ movie at best.

Hmmm -- I loved this movie. Even watched much of it a second time to make sure I understood it!

[revo]

It's hard to talk about the movie here without discussing spoilers, but there were several parts that were just plain deal-breakers for me. The deus ex machina explanations were plain ridiculous. It wasn't boring at all, though, and kept me thinking.


Here's a plot hole that typified the movie for me (sorta spoiler):

Bale sends Jackman on, presumably, a wild goose chase to go see Tesla (who is amusingly being hounded by Thomas Edison's goons....lol). Oh, but wait! Tesla actually does have a magic machine! Wow, that worked out well for Jackman even though Bale sent him there to chase his own tail.

I agree you had to suspend reality (after all, cloning in the 1890s?) but if you did, the movie was pretty enjoyable with nice plot twists.

[Teenwolf]

The King's Speech - Thought this was very good. About what I expected from it, slow but interesting. Not quite best picture material, but it deserves its spot in the top 10.

Charade - 1963 light-hearted murder mystery starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Highly enjoyable.

Paranormal Activity 2 - I think both of these films are exceelent. They seem to be love/hate movies. For me, the low-budget aesthetic makes me feel things all the more. If you liked the first one, this definitely lives up to the original. If you haven't seen either one, do yourself a favour and get on it.

Monsters - Reviews are somewhat mixed for this, so I went in expecting a mediocre b-monster movie. What this actually is, is a pretty affecting character story with very little action, using creatures as the catalyst for tension, but not with the typical "oh ****, run" sequence of chase scenes. Really enjoyed this, but be warned that it is NOT an action movie.