Last movie you watched?

[Bloo4Ever]

Wall-E!

I didn't think it was gonna be that good, but wow, it was amazing! The animation was just indescribably amazing. I mean, you could've watched the entire film with no volume, just observing at how great the films looks and would've been amazing.

However, I really loved the story of Wall-E and EVE. Wall-E just has an innocent characteristic about and the way they made him so anthropomorphic, you can't help but love him and laugh his his mostly failed exploits whenever he tries to impress EVE

[happy80schild]

Happy-Go-Lucky
at first I thought I hated it but at the end it won me over

[some guy you dont know]

The Iron Giant

Man... It's been like, years since I've seen this movie. Got it at wal-mart ina $5 bin near the counter. great purchase.

The whole movie is pretty amazing. That art looks great and the story always gets me. I could probably watch it over and over again, if I wanted to.

[jekylljuice]

The Dark Crystal

The world's first ever all-puppet feature film (other than Anders Ronnow Klarlund's Strings - also a fascinating movie and well worth a look - and, possibly, Team America: World Police - which I haven't seen - have there actually been that many others since?), this represents a darker, much more straight-faced Jim Henson than you're probably used to. There's very little to laugh at, and it tackles some pretty weighty issues in its 90-minute running time, including tyranny and genocide. As you would expect, the puppetry is masterfully done - the Gelfling protagonists do look a little plain and ordinary, it must be said, but the supporting cast are just brimming with life and character, from the fluffy, razor-fanged Fizzgig to the shuffling, one-eyed Aughra, to those truly repulsive (albeit impressively-conceived) avian Skeksis. Henson isn't afraid to get seriously ugly in this one...in fact, there's one particular sequence therein which you'd do very well not to watch too close to a meal - that is, the scene where the Skeksis tuck into a gourmet dinner. I make no exaggeration when I say that their table manners (or rather, lack of) made me feel physically ill.

The narrative, though at times it feels a little swamped beneath all the gritty visuals on display, and occasionally wanders into all too transparently wannabe-Tolkien territory, does have enough interesting and original elements of its own to make it fascinating to watch - I particularly liked the curious kinship that the Skeksis share with their more benign counterparts, the Mystics, which I won't reveal here.

Not your typical puppet show, and all the more intriguing for it. You have been warned about those Skeksis, though.

Spoiler Below

I'm pretty sure that some would consider Fizzgig's means of survival at the end to be a bit of a cop-out, but...dammit, I don't care. I loved that little Fizzgig. I was truly horrified for that brief moment when it looked like they'd actually killed him.

and

Pitch Black

To be honest I only watched the first hour or so...might go back and finish it at a later time, though presently I can't say I'm in any particular hurry to do so. I did really like the basic set-up, even if it's quite a familiar bunch-of-people-in-a-perilous-situation-get-picked-off-one-by-one scenario (one set in deep space, to boot). A spacecraft crashes upon a seemingly uninhabited planet, which turns out to be home to a variety of dangerous carnivorous lifeforms. Fortunately for the survivors of the crash, these creatures are repelled by light and spend most of their time hidden deep beneath the surface of the planet. Unfortunately for the survivors, they happened to crash just prior to a month-long total eclipse, during which these creatures will roam freely en masse, devouring whatever unlit prey they find in their path. The humans must now band together, including the rogue element on board, represented by Vin Diesel, to survive and find a way to escape, yadda yadda yadda.

It has the potential to be decent popcorn fun, and doesn't start out too badly, but once the main body of action gets underway it plays out a little too routinely for its own good, and the lack of surprises is a real minus point. Remember, a few pages back, how much I was raving about Cube? That's largely because, in addition to being so taut and well-executed, it was genuinely unpredictable. The individual character arcs were frequently surprising and kept me firmly on my toes throughout. In Pitch Black, on the other hand, I found I could predict not only which characters were going to die, but the exact order in which they'd be picked off too. I had singled out my favourite character within the first fifteen minutes, but since I could tell right off the bat that he wasn't the sort of character who generally survives this sort of ordeal (a suspicion which was duely vindicated), I tried not to get too attached. Still, I was able to get a few chuckles out of him before his borrowed time came to a screeching halt.

From what I saw, I definitely liked it a lot more than Event Horizon, but still, there are better movies of its ilk out there.

[Imaginary Light]

So this summer I have a list of movies to watch that I've been meaning to see, but never had a chance to. First up on the list was Slumdog Millionaire, which I just finished watching. Wow. Seriously. Now I see what was behind all the hype. It was such a powerful movie. I was crying by the end of it.

I love the way they told the story, how they did it question by question, showing how Jamal came to know each answer through his experiences.

Argh, it was just so good!

Next up on the list? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Can't wait.

[Ridureyu]

Pitch Black is mostly predictable, but it does throw a few surprises your way.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Saving Private Ryan

Truth be told and believe me, I have had many people already act supremely shocked by this, I had not seen the movie until tonight. I never got around to it and it never came up so I missed out on this movie for many years. I'm not a fan of war movies, in fact I despise the very notion of war and would much rather see something else then something about the very thing I feel tears nations and families apart.

However after seeing the movie, I can't say anything other then it was a very damn good movie. It was spectacular and very horrifying and intense and I thought it really was a great movie....however i have no real intention of ever seeing it again or buying it. Saving Private Ryan is one of those movies (in my opinion) that you don't need to own but you can only watch so many times.

Its so dramatic and dark and intense I can't see myself watching it multiple times, the movie's emotional effect is too strong to relive again and again. Plus as much as I did enjoy this movie, I still hate war, I hate the military and everything horrifying that happens to soldiers because of wars and the military and that will never change but for now I agree this was a powerful film.

[Ccook50]

Terminator: Salvation. It seemed to have more violence than any story exposition.

[jekylljuice]

Synecdoche, New York

The latest mind-bending journey from screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*). As much as I enjoyed it, and as much as I was moved and enthralled by it, I find myself at something of a loss for words right now. In short, I loved it, but I haven't yet been able to pinpoint what it was about it that most stood out for me. It doesn't have a distinctive, madcap storyline a la Being John Malkovich, nor the same degree of character or playful reflexiveness of Adaptation - though, like the latter film, it works by blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction, and, like Eternal Sunshine, the similar boundaries between objectivity and subjectivity. The common themes of loneliness, self-entrapment and the desire to make one's mark in the world that pervade Kaufman's works are all there, as is his quirky sense of humour (even if it did start out a little too scatologically for my tastes), and the ending leaves that same lingering, somewhat unsettling (in the case of Malkovich, tenfold) aftertaste. And, as with all the aforementioned films, these ingredients are all complimented by a strong lead performance - coming from Philip Seymour Hoffman, I certainly wouldn't expect anything less.

I didn't fully understand this film, but nonetheless, I look forward to picking it up on DVD a little later in life.

*(still haven't seen Human Nature)

[jekylljuice]

Junebug

I seem to recall, when Enchanted first came out, there being some discussion about how Amy Adams made a wonderful leading actress despite "having come from nowhere". I frankly found those sentiments to be just the slightest bit galling because, before Enchanted, Amy had previously gotten to flex her incredible talent in this wonderfully understated family drama (for which she received an Oscar nomination). I've seen it quite a few times now, and it still fascinates me. From the off-set, it appears to be a story we've all heard countless times before - the basic prodigel son set-up, coupled with a fish out of water, meet the in-laws scenario, in which one partner struggles to acquaint themselves with their significant other's roots - which, in return, regard them with suspicion. But there's something incredibly refreshing and powerful about how Junebug plays out - nothing is cut and dried, the characters never really find any solutions to their problems, and in the end we step away, like Madeline and George, feeling that we've just had a brief, but throughly immersive stop-over in this family's lives. If the film has one particular focus, it's on the friendship that quickly develops between Embeth Davidtz and Amy Adams' character, Ashley - a seemingly very naive character who actually turns out to have a considerable amount of fortitude, and Adams plays her very admirably - but one thing which I love about it is the decidedly multi-layered approach, in which even the quieter and more minor family members get their moments, or subtle little character expansions. It's a basic story of love, loss and family estrangement, but a surprisingly complicated one too.


and


Let The Right One In

The trailer for this oddball Swedish flick made it look like a pretty straightforward vampire movie...that's what I was all prepared for, anyway. In actuality, it was something very different - there are a handful of jump and start moments scattered throughout, but for the most part this is more sadly haunting than it is outright horror. I won't give too much away (seriously, I think that the chain of events that ensue would have a lot more impact if you didn't actually know what's coming - this is particularly true of the last couple of scenes, which were real jaw-droppers), but it concerns a friendless young boy who suddenly acquires a mysterious new ally in the form a quiet young girl who isn't all that she appears. Strange and disturbing whilst also being surprisingly touching and heart-warming, this is a very original and well-made monster movie, and I recommend checking it out if you get the chance.