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

[johnnya24]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - wonderful coming of age movie, with a dark undercurrent. I thought it was set in about 1990, but then Pretend We're Dead played near the end, and that was about 1992 ... either way I would have been right around the same age. Great soundtrack. Can't recommend highly enough, especially for the typical age group we have here.

There's a part when they couldn't figure out the name of a song (Heroes by David Bowie) ... reminded me on those pre-internet days when there was still some mystery in the world. Times have changed very, very quickly.

[JudeBaldo]

Watched a few movies in the last week or so:

Lawless - Pretty good Prohibition-era flick about a trio of brothers distilling moonshine who run into a snag when new lawmen are brought in who want to shut them down. Thomas Hardy is terrifying as the eldest brother who keeps the operation running while Shia LeBouef does a pretty good job as the youngest brother who finally grows a pair when the business is teetering on the edge. The acting overall is pretty good and it's nice and violent although the characters aren't fleshed out as well as they could've been.

Premium Rush - Super simple plot - a bike messenger is tasked with delivering a parcel that a bad guy wants instead. Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers as usual and Michael Shannon is convincing as the crooked cop, but most of the other performances leave a lot to be desired. The action is pretty much non-stop (it's basically a real-time movie except for the flashbacks) so it's worthwhile as a popcorn flick.

Total Recall - Having only seen parts of the original, I found the remake to be pretty entertaining although nothing special. Colin Farrell plays the main character whose seemingly menial existence morphs into that of a revolutionary. Kate Beckinsale is hot and menacing as the wife/nemesis and Jessica Biel gives her normal "meh" performance as his true love interest. Most of the reviews I read compared it unfavorably to the original (hence the 30% Rotten Tomatoes rating) but as a standalone film I found it to be pretty decent.

I thought Jessica Chastain was smoldering in Lawless. But I'm biased towards gingers. I thought Totall Recall was such a damn bore. The plot had more holes than a Homeland season. I have seen Premium Rush yet but I'll check it out because of JGL.

I did see Django Unchained last night and that was excellent. It was such a complete movie. It had action, comedy, terrific acting, etc. I think Tarantino hit out of the park.

[heyelander]

There's a part when they couldn't figure out the name of a song (Heroes by David Bowie) ... reminded me on those pre-internet days when there was still some mystery in the world. Times have changed very, very quickly.

My cousin (young, 16ish) will ask me some random question on facebook and I usually reply with "Oh, it's such a shame that there isn't a machine close by where you could just type in any question you have and more likely than not it will tell you the answer... maybe some day"

[johnnya24]

My cousin (young, 16ish) will ask me some random question on facebook and I usually reply with "Oh, it's such a shame that there isn't a machine close by where you could just type in any question you have and more likely than not it will tell you the answer... maybe some day"

Next time do this

LINK

[heyelander]

Next time do this

LINK

consider it done.

[Erik]

I did see Django Unchained last night and that was excellent. It was such a complete movie. It had action, comedy, terrific acting, etc. I think Tarantino hit out of the park.

My wife wants to see Les Miz in the theater, to which I responded, only if we see Django Unchained in the theater also.

[Gregg]

I did see Django Unchained last night and that was excellent. It was such a complete movie. It had action, comedy, terrific acting, etc. I think Tarantino hit out of the park.

I am glad to read/hear this. I am hoping that I have not put too high of expectations on it.

[JudeBaldo]

I am glad to read/hear this. I am hoping that I have not put too high of expectations on it.

Go in with low expectations and then let the movie surprise you. There are so many little nuances to the movie that I didn't notice until I heard Taratino talking about a scene. The best part of the movie is that his actors totally deliver on the complex interactions in the movie.

Christoph Waltz continues to be a bad ass. His acting is hypnotic.

[johnnya24]

The Tree of Life - I've been putting off watching this until I was in the right mood. I'm not really sure how I feel about this one yet. First impressions are that it really doesn't work as a movie or an argument, although I'll reserve judgement on the latter. Malick has a pretty unique style that in his successful movies is used sparingly, the visuals stand out because they compliment the narrative ... that amazing image of the three ships sailing off into the distance in The Thin Red Line has always stuck with me. Here the narrative was spliced around so many visuals that I can't even remember one. It was so badly broken up I didn't even know which brother the Sean Penn character was playing. The start of the movie just didn't work for me.

When the main narrative started it was very well executed and acted (outstanding performances by all), if lonnnnnnnnng ... but I don't think it in any way navigated the movie to whatever lofty goal Malick had in mind.

It seemed like he just added a religious versus atheist twist to:

They f*ck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were f*cked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.

"This Be the Verse" by Philip Larkin

Problem is that the "grace" versus "nature" argument is already a flawed and grossly over-simplistic dichotomy (and presented as such - grace=mother | nature=father) ... so that aspect was doomed to failure from the outset. Still, I think there's a brilliant movie in there, but it got lost on the editing room floor ... I reckon Malick just had too long to think about this one ... he's been trying to make it since the 70's.

Trivia ... when it was first shown in Italy, they inadvertently mixed up the first two reels, and no-one noticed for 2 weeks.

[rhd]

My wife wants to see Les Miz in the theater, to which I responded, only if we see Django Unchained in the theater also.

Just saw Les Miz. I'd seen a couple movie versions before so I knew the story, but I've never seen the stage production. Didnt realize that this latest version was a movie version of the play, which means practically all the "dialogue" was sung. That said, I thought it was a pretty good production and worth seeing. But if you're unfamiliar w the story, you might have a little trouble following it completely.

[Gregg]

Just saw Les Miz. I'd seen a couple movie versions before so I knew the story, but I've never seen the stage production. Didn't realize that this latest version was a movie version of the play, which means practically all the "dialogue" was sung.

Out.

Thanks for the warning.

[TranaGreg]

The Tree of Life ... Trivia ... when it was first shown in Italy, they inadvertently mixed up the first two reels, and no-one noticed for 2 weeks.

now that's funny. I sat through it ... not quite as sure as you are that there's a brilliant movie in there ...

over the past week we saw Argo and Silver Linings Playbook. Loved Silver Linings Playbook, liked Argo. Thought Argo was just way too contrived (esp. as a Canadian I was already pretty familiar with what really happened vs what was artistic license), though it sure made for a great story. Silver Linings Playbook is really well done, great performances by everyone (some classic DeNiro scenes), and just off kilter enough to keep the viewer uncertain.

[johnnya24]

now that's funny. I sat through it ... not quite as sure as you are that there's a brilliant movie in there ...

I think I have to watch it again ... soon. I've been thinking about it non-stop since last night. I was imagining the wrong things while watching it ... doesn't help when you keep nodding off The Mother/Grace figure cannot represent religion, because that is presented as a controlling and unsympathetic entity, and is clearly on the side on the father. It's the father we see praying at church, dragging the kids up for church, demanding prayer at the table, not the mother. So the religious versus atheist angle is completely inaccurate ... it's the classic aesthetic opposition of beauty and reason ... something along the lines of spirituality/love/friendship/freedom versus reason/ambition/control/religion.

At the beginning of the movie it is presented as a choice between the way of nature and the way of grace. This has clearly thrown a lot of people, because this is a particularly humanist sense of grace, imbued by a sense of spirituality connection to all living things in the universe, and nature in the Hobbesian sense, red in tooth and claw.

I think I'll enjoy it a lot more next time. There were so many little touches that required context ...

[JudeBaldo]

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/2012/12/25/tarantino-blows-the-spaghetti-western-django-unchained/1K8om7OnlojKUf8rjr75pK/story.html

An excellent critique on Django by Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris. It made me appreciate the movie that much more.

[johnnya24]

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/2012...5pK/story.html

An excellent critique on Django by Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris. It made me appreciate the movie that much more.

19th January is the release date here ... so sick.