Last movie you watched?

[taranchula]

Quantum of Solace

The much anticipated follow up to Casino Royal, which just like Royal delivers another gritty action packed story of love, betrayal and revenge with some nice stunt work and set pieces. Once more Danial Craig delivers a very nice performance that cements his place as James Bond and IMHO puts him up there with the all time great Bond actors, Connery and Moore.

My only complaints about the film was the overuse of "shaky cam" in some of the fighting and chase scenes, it's a nice gimmick to provide a sense of drawing the viewer into the scene but when the editing is overdone to the point in which you're not sure who is who on the screen then the opposite effect is achieved.

Other then that minor flaw, this was a very good film and for any fan of the franchise it would be well worth their while to go and catch it.

[frankie_fan]

Get Smart

Got myself the Shoe Phone Edition (which you can see here), and loved the movie all over again!

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Bolt

I caught a sneak preview of it last night and saw it with my girlfriend, I have to say while it was different then what I was expected I was extremely entertained and enjoyed this movie. The story has a lot more heart and emotional charm then I expected, plus I know being a guy it sounds a bit weird but my god, Bolt is RIDICULOUSLY CUTE!

Seriously, watch the first ten minutes of the movie and you will think he is the cutest dog ever animated. The animation is beautifully rendered and really makes the fur and the characters look so fresh and clean. Btw, the hamster in the ball (Rhino)? He steals the show with ease, he is easily the funniest freaking character of the film, every line of his is pure gold. All in all, an excellent Disney film. Its not pixar but its still a wonderful movie with a lot of heart.

[Mac-a-lacka]

Kung Fu Panda

A very funny and cute movie.

[jekylljuice]

Ghostwatch

October 31st, 1992. The BBC screened a TV movie so original, so cleverly-conceived and executed, and so audacious that it instantly became the subject of a tidal wave of controversy, greatly jeopardising the likelihood that they will ever risk a re-airing (hasn't happened yet, but apparently it has been shown since in Canada) but fully cementing Ghostwatch's status as pure unabashed cult-viewing. Back in 1992 I was only seven years old and my parents had probably sent me to bed before this came on (though they appear to have missed out on it too), so I caught it for the first time a mere sixteen years later this Halloween (on DVD), and was so taken with it that I have watched it two more times since. Though it does have one or two shortcomings, and can almost certainly never have the same degree of impact that it had upon the night of its original broadcast, in its proper context, it really is quite an engaging and fascinating piece of film-making which holds up suprisingly well upon its own merits.

The film is a mockumentary, done in the style of a live broadcast in which the likes of real-life TV personalities Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Mike Smith and Craig "Dave Lister" Charles investigate the paranormal happenings at an ostensibly ordinary suburban household which has reportedly been the subject of some pretty malicious poltergeist activity, much to the distress of its residents, single mother Pam Early and her two daughters Suzanne and Kim (naturally, the case-story of the Enfield Poltergeist had a pretty strong influence here). The TV crew hopes to milk some interesting Halloween entertainment from the predicament, whereas the Early family just want their plight to be recognised and respected. I'm not going to give anything away, but I will say that the evening has some pretty interesting and intense twists and turns in store for them all, with one particularly brilliant one in the final stages. The problem being, of course, that a large proportion of the film's viewers didn't realise that what they were seeing was all staged and fictional, the result being that mass panic was generated (which apparently included a handful of pregnant women going into labour and, regrettably, a suidicide), and that the BBC was quickly flooded with angry letters and phone calls. Hence the heavy restrictions which have been imposed upon the film ever since. Deception, however, had never really been the intention of Ghostwatch, which came complete with writing and acting credits. The production team behind it have argued since that it was simply an unconventional and particularly involving method of telling a horror story.

As I say, removed from its original context it's kind of hard to recognise the film as anything other than fiction - there are ample winks and nods throughout which, with the benefit of hindsight, audiences will now be more receptive to, coupled with the film's only really prominent shortcoming in that some of the performances are a bit limp. The real TV personalities involved get into the spirit of it wonderfully, and I really enjoyed the input of Parky and his team, but the two girls playing the Early children are very obviously acting. Still, as the story progressed and so much else started happening, I noticed less and less. What really impressed me is just how well it holds up, not just as a slickly made and entertaining mockumentary, but as a genuinely unsettling work of horror...it really does manage to get under your skin, more effectively than most conventional horror movies, and I found the film's antagonist (again, I will elaborate no further) to be utterly spine-chilling. Thanks to Ghostwatch, I now find it very difficult to look at my curtains once I've switched off the light at night (no kidding). What really unsettled me was learning, a little later, of all the things which had passed me by completely unnoticed during my initial viewing. Let's just say that the sharp-eyed viewer will be rewarded at several points throughout.

So, check this one out if you can. It's fascinating, both as a commentary upon media manipulation, and as an entertaining slice of horror-drama.

[Mac-a-lacka]

WALL-E

It came out on DVD today and my sister got it for us to watch.

[koosie]

Originally Posted by Mac-a-lacka

WALL-E

It came out on DVD today and my sister got it for us to watch.

Did you enjoy it?

The last 3 films I saw were Michael Clayton, The Age of Innocence and The Empire Strikes Back. All good movies despite being on the little screen.

[Mac-a-lacka]

Originally Posted by koosie

Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, not my most favorite of the Pixar films, and the soundtrack isn't much to write home about either, but it's still good and funny.

[jekylljuice]

An American Werewolf in London

Classic comedy-horror, with some enduring special effects. The central werewolf transformation scene still looks impressive after twenty-seven years, while Griffin Dunne's episodic journey through physical decomposition manages to be simultaneously repulsive and damned near impossible to take your eyes off (I actually find his appearance to be most difficult to handle during his initial visitation, when his wounds still look very nasty and fresh). To me, Dunne's character is very easily the strongest, since he constitutes a pitch-perfect mixture of humour, geniality and ghoulishness, and I find that the film is always at its most effective whenever he's on the scene, though David Naughton does a more-than-decent job as the lycanthrope lead. My only slight qualm is that the storyline does feel just a tad underdeveloped - personally, I would have liked to have learnt more about the backstory of the original werewolf and of the villagers who lived in constant fear of him, and it all ends very abruptly (with a very deliberately jarring choice of end-credits song). But no matter - it's highly entertaining, the horror and the violence is neatly tempered by the macabre humour, and there are a few moments of genuine poignency into the bargain. It's a very well-made and enjoyable package all-round. Just keep clear of the moors and beware the moon.

Originally Posted by Mac-a-lacka

the soundtrack isn't much to write home about either

I'm gonna have to disagree with that one - when I saw it and heard the beautiful new Peter Gabriel track that went with it, one of the first things I did the following morning was to ring up my mother and tell her. That's how excited I was.

[taranchula]

The first two Home Alone movies.

Even though the original is often regarded as the better movie, I personally like the second film better...must be the Tim Curry factor. (and The Cameo by Donald Trump almost a full ten years before he clawed his way back to the public consciousness via the realm of Reality TV.) that tips Lost In New York in my favor.