Last movie you watched?

[some guy you dont know]

Mystery Men



Uh... wow. I can not really say anything else about this movie, just wow. watch it if you like superhero movies, or even if you don't.

[jekylljuice]

A Mighty Wind

Another mockumentary from Christopher Guest, structured quite similarly to Waiting For Guffman and with more-or-less the same cast. This time, the subject at hand is folk music, and the efforts of three have-been (if ever) bands to stage a reunion concert in order to pay tribute to their mutual producer, who recently passed away. One of these bands, the Folksmen, is comprised of Guest himself, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, which did feel just the slightest bit gimmicky (despite the act itself apparently having existed prior to the film), but it was great nonetheless seeing them all together again. Another band, the New Main Street Singers, contains only one member of its original line-up (hence the name), and is managed by an utter twit whose cringe-inducing sense of humour and self-importance makes David Brent look relatively sophisticated. The final band, Mitch and Mickey, consists of an ex-couple, whose traumatic break-up all those years ago has left the former emotionally shattered, while the latter has since settled down and married a catheter salesman. Incidentally, it was their centrepiece song, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" which earned the film an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song back in 2004.

Admittedly, I'm not particularly big on folk music, so a lot of the little in-jokes and references probably went entirely over my head, but then nor am I a huge fan of heavy metal music either, and that's never prevented me from enjoying This Is Spinal Tap on multiple occasions. Although I wouldn't exactly place this in the same league as Spinal Tap, or even Waiting For Guffman (which provided me with a lot more laugh-out-loud moments and had a more relishable storyline all-round), it was still a lot of fun, and the Mitch and Mickey story arc gave things a healthy layer of poignency too. In short, not Guest's best work, but worth watching nonetheless.

[HerrimanWasHere]

Enchanted

And you know what? It was kinda cute. I enjoyed it.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Watchmen

Saw it on IMAX just a little while ago and boy, talk about seeing a movie on the BIG screen. All the hype, suspense, big talk and popularity following this movie has not been for nothing nor has it diminished anything. This movie is frigging, freaking, and fantastically phenomenal. The level of visual details, the complex costumes, the special camera angles and important use of music are well used.

Everything here is pretty much perfect: acting, dialog, violence, gore, pacing, music, its all top quality and definitely keeps your attention. However, its not perfect as there are some flaws some minor some major. One is the annoying repetitious use of the fear of nuclear war since this movie takes place when the US feared Soviet invasion.

I understand that's part of the story's plot and where the movie is supposed to take place, but I got tired of hearing nuclear war over and over again and was more concerned watching the characters and everything ELSE to keep worrying about nukes. Its a minor not really necessarily well founded complaint but the big one I have is with the ending....I just don't like it.

As intelligent as it is and well crafted, I don't like it and I think maybe if one or two things had been changed it would have been much better but as it stands: it sends a mixed message, mixing valid points with unsatisfied ones. The movie is not a disappointment or a letdown and definitely recommend seeing it at once just be forewarned: the gore and sex scenes in this film are HEAVY.

[Nathander]

Watchmen. Went to see it for the second time tonight. As a fan of the comic, I honestly loved it, despite some of the liberties taken with it. It also, in my opinion, got better with a second viewing.

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

Watchmen

However, its not perfect as there are some flaws some minor some major. One is the annoying repetitious use of the fear of nuclear war since this movie takes place when the US feared Soviet invasion.

I understand that's part of the story's plot and where the movie is supposed to take place, but I got tired of hearing nuclear war over and over again and was more concerned watching the characters and everything ELSE to keep worrying about nukes.

Agreed. The reminder that this was the Cold War and they had to constantly talk about nuclear war was somewhat grating, though at the same time clear while they did it. For the most part, I agree: they could have had the characters only really mention it that much closer to the beginning and then regulated it only to the scenes with Nixon in his war room.

Originally Posted by Mr.Marshmallow

Its a minor not really necessarily well founded complaint but the big one I have is with the ending....I just don't like it.

As intelligent as it is and well crafted, I don't like it and I think maybe if one or two things had been changed it would have been much better but as it stands: it sends a mixed message, mixing valid points with unsatisfied ones.

This I disagree with, but I know a lot of this is simply because I'm familiar with the source material and was expecting the ending I got. It's easy to see how someone unfamiliar with the source material would be unhappy with how everything ends. Though, I have to admit, I'm curious at what point it is you considered the ending and which points you felt were valid and which were invalid, not out of any intent to seem patronizing, but because the story was intended in general to start discussion over the point.

Spoiler Below

I'd assume you count the ending as the confrontation with Veidt in Karnak. To be honest, they made Veidt seem more cold-hearted and detached from humanity and what he did in the movie, whereas he was genuinely well meaning, but clearly insane, in the comic. The movie also seems to side with Rorschach being correct, whereas in the comic it's meant to be more inconclusive and up to the reader as to whether the opinion of Veidt or Rorschach was correct, or if both were wrong. For the most part, I'm conflicted on it because it's made clear that nuclear war was inevitable unless something happened, and by doing what he did, Veidt successfully stopped it, or at least delayed it by a few decades. At the same time, Veidt had no right to do what he did, and he had also come to the arrogant assumption that only he was capable of saving humanity, so his actions were as much an intention to stroke his ego as much as save the world. Rorschach, while having his heart in the right place, would have brought the (at least temporary piece) to a screeching end if he told people what had happened. While the journal in the film more or less shows he does anyway,it's shown in the comic that the paper he gave it to was a right wing propaganda sheet and would have probably been disregarded easily by most people.

I guess what I'm trying to say is is that the mixed opinions/points is very much an intentional decision.

On a whole, I truly enjoyed the film. It may not be some perfect adaptation, but it is almost certainly the best adaptation one could hope for in the format of a film.

[koosie]

Good to see Watchmen generating some debate at least. What I'm most intersted in is:

Spoiler Below

Is reference made to the relationship between Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis? I'd like to see them have a spin-off movie or something. Such a cute couple!

[Nathander]

Originally Posted by koosie

Good to see Watchmen generating some debate at least. What I'm most intersted in is:

Spoiler Below

Is reference made to the relationship between Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis? I'd like to see them have a spin-off movie or something. Such a cute couple!

In the movie? No. I wouldn't doubt there will be in the documentary version of Under the Hood that'll come out with the DVD.

[koosie]

Originally Posted by Nathander

In the movie? No. I wouldn't doubt there will be in the documentary version of Under the Hood that'll come out with the DVD.

I'm not surprised, it'd be a big job weaving a tapestry that rich in a blockbuster movie. What you suggests sounds cool though. Personally I'd like to see a sort of Spoiler Below

Brokeback Mountain with capes.

Do you know I've consistantly failed to mention what the last movie I watched was. Well it was Persopolis, the English dub version and I liked it a lot. Perhaps not the sort of animated feature that'd get many people round here that excited I'd guess.

[jekylljuice]

Originally Posted by koosie

Do you know I've consistantly failed to mention what the last movie I watched was. Well it was Persopolis, the English dub version and I liked it a lot. Perhaps not the sort of animated feature that'd get many people round here that excited I'd guess.

I saw it about a year or so ago. Good film.

And the last movie I watched was...


Best In Show

This is the second Christopher Guest mockumentary I’ve watched this week. Again, the structure and cast are essentially the same as in Waiting For Guffman and A Mighty Wind – once more, Eugene Levy plays a socially awkward nerd, and Fred Willard a crass, loud idiot who seems to be entirely in love with his own crass, loud idiocy - but it’s a solid formula which produces some highly entertaining and slickly observed results, and this is certainly no exception. Here, Guest takes a dip into the world of canine fanatics and pedigree showing, focussing upon five different entrants into a prestigious dog show – a two-time champion Standard Poodle, a troubled Weimaraner, a friendly Norwich Terrier, a pampered Shih Tzu and a rookie Bloodhound – and the colourful assortment of eccentric owners who’ve brought them this far in the hopes of seeing their beloved pooch be named Best in Show.

I did feel sorry for Beatrice the Weimaraner, whose owners, a high-strung, constantly-bickering married couple, were easily the least likeable of the bunch (their outcome in the competition wasn’t exactly unforeseen), but for the most part this was an utter delight, and I’d recommend it very strongly to anybody who enjoys mockumentaries, unconventional comedies, or just movies with a lot of cute doggies in them.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Originally Posted by Nathander

Though, I have to admit, I'm curious at what point it is you considered the ending and which points you felt were valid and which were invalid, not out of any intent to seem patronizing, but because the story was intended in general to start discussion over the point.

The problem I had was this

Spoiler Below

Ozymandias should have died. I was supremely pissed off that he was allowed to live when he should have killed and vaporized for everything he had done. The fact that he got away with everything I thought was insulting. Now don't get me wrong, I liked the fact his bombs did go off and millions of people died, I liked how that brought about peace and no one could change it without destroying the peace they established. I liked everything about that part of the ending.

What i didn't like was the fact that Ozy should have been killed. Dr. Manhattan killing Rorschach I understand, but why he did not kill Ozy is something I do not understand because its like: you let him get away with EVERYTHING! And the other heroes just let it happen and accepted it. Even if Dr. Manhattan understood what Ozy was trying to say, that still doesn't make Ozy any less responsible for what he did and the fact Manhattan would allow him to live just bugged the crap out of me because he had more reason to die then Rorschach did. That was my problem with the ending. What Ozymandias did was unforgivable, giving cancer to innocent people and intentionally mind hammering Manhattan earns him more reasons that he should have been killed and even MORE incentive for Manhattan to kill Ozy despite the fact he agreed with his plans.

That's my beef with its ending.

Btw if you're looking for a more "complete review", I have a full length audio review of Watchmen on my youtube page here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhWxZAfwZ-w