What was the last movie you saw?

Off-Topic Conversation regarding music, movies, TV, plays, etc in general the entertainment industry.

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Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

In Horse Feathers, the Marx Brothers take on higher education (and higher education takes a beating). The new President of Huxley College is Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho). He has two main goals. One, stop his son Frank (Zeppo) from seeing the college widow (Thelma Todd). Two, get a pair of football stars who are for hire to play for Huxley, so they can snap their forty year losing streak to rival Darwin. Unfortunately, Darwin recruits the ringers first, and Wagstaff is stuck with the leftovers--Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo). The climax of this one is possibly the zaniest film depiction of a football game ever.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
pyrosis
Learning to Love Green
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by pyrosis »

Just watched PJ20 the documentary about Pearl Jam. If you ever liked the band -watch it.
It made me cry! It makes me want to see Pearl Jam live again!
You know, Edward, as a brother you are sometimes a dissappointment

Oh, never mind! my less noble side exulted

Then the jokes about the world's only clumsy vampire would start

'Bout time someone scored around here
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

Smilla's Sense of Snow is a rather good, intellectual thriller adapted from a Danish novel by Peter Hoeg. Smilla (Julia Ormond) comes home from work one day to find a tragedy. A young boy who was a neighbor and friend of hers has died from falling off of a roof. The authorities seem determined to rule it accidental, but Smilla, knowing the boy's fear of heights, suspects murder, and begins to investigate with a tenacity that might cost her her life. This one was just a little bit uninvolving, but Ormond is a strong enough lead to hold it together.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

Underworld is often categorized as a horror film, but it's really an action thriller, that just happens to be about some of the frequent denizens of horror films, namely vampires and werewolves (or Lycans, as they're called in the lingo of this film). The background story: vampires and Lycans have been waging war for over 1000 years. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a fiercely dedicated vampire warrior, while Michael (Scott Speedman) is the human, soon to become Lycan, whose fate becomes interwoven with hers. The plot for this one required a bit too much suspension of disbelief for me, and it's extremely bombastic, but there's plenty of high-octane action, a suitably dark visual atmosphere, and Beckinsale's terrific portrayal of a kickass heroine (I do love a good Action Girl). Plus, if you're a Michael Sheen fan, he's pretty good in this one, too, as the Lycan leader Lucian.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

The Old Fashioned Way is a nice example of W. C. Fields' unique brand of comedy. The Great McGonigle (Fields) leads a small troupe of traveling players and vaudevillians. Very often, he leads them out of town just one jump ahead of the sheriff, as the troupe isn't a smashing financial success. With a very loose, episodic plot, this one depends mainly on Fields' inimitable screen personality to carry things along; I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Fields films I've seen.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
funkidiva
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by funkidiva »

Nativity on DVD - I know this is a cristmasy film but hey :D It was funny, great cast, hilarious at times and a nice feel good film where you hope it all ends happily. A teacher is in charge of this year's school nativity which at first he hates doing. He soon gets into it with the help of his loud teaching assistant. However, when he bumps into the school's rival, and whi is also his old friend, he cant help but make a web of lies including that Hollywood are coming to film his school's nativity play. Chaos ensues and the web of lies gets bigger and bigger with funny consequences.
"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb" "...What shoes had Alice put me in? Stilettos? She'd lost her mind..."
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

Tonight I watched a Swedish teen romance called Show Me Love (the Swedish title doesn't make it through the language filter). Elin (Alexandra Dahlstrom) is a pretty, popular teen who aches to escape from her small, rather backwards town. Agnes (Rebecka Liljeberg) is a lonely, moody outsider who nurtures a secret love--for Elin! At a party one night, Elin's older sister dares her to kiss Agnes--which she does. The two sisters then run out giggling, but Elin begins to feel ashamed of her prank, so she goes to Agnes's house late that night to apologize. Over the rest of the evening the two girls discover a genuine attraction to each other; but acknowledging their feelings in broad daylight may be more than Elin is ready for.

This movie was a big critical and commercial success in Sweden and I found it to be quite good. Elin and Agnes are not perfect people by any means, but they are both sympathetic characters nevertheless, and it's easy to root for them to end up together. Dahlstrom and Liljeberg give excellent performances and have superb onscreen chemistry--they shared the Guldbagge (Swedish equivalent of an Oscar) for Best Actress for 1999.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

One of my favorite movies of the past decade is Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which I watched tonight. Peter Weir, who directed and cowrote the script, did a very good job of adapting Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for film, and turned out a really good, old-style adventure film where the story really matters. The film captures the feel of the "wooden ships and iron men" age of naval warfare extremely well. Russell Crowe is a terrific Captain Jack Aubrey, and Paul Bettany is good as his ship's surgeon and best friend Stephen Maturin. The rest of the cast is solid as well: standouts incluce Max Pirkis as Midshipman Blakeney, Billy Boyd as Barrett Bonden, and David Threllfall as Preserved Killick.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

It's been over 30 years since the space freighter Nostromo was diverted from its return course to Earth to answer an alien message beacon, but Alien can still scare and shock the living daylights out of the viewer. The seven-member crew of the Nostromo find they have, yes, an alien in their midst after they answer that message beacon, and it isn't a friendly little E.T., either--it has acid for blood and a mean streak as wide as an asteroid belt. First to die is executive officer Kane (John Hurt), who has the most famous case of indigestion in cinema history. The remaining crew quickly realize that they may not have much time left unless they can manage to kill the alien.

While the subsequent films in this franchise thrived on high-octane action, this one is built on a quieter, beneath-the-surface suspense that is at least as effective as the more overt approach of the sequels. It was a career-maker for director Ridley Scott and star Sigourney Weaver, who, as most of you surely know, played the tenacious survivor Ripley. In support are a crew of great character actors--besides the already mentioned Hurt, there's Tom Skerrit's laid-back but competent captain, grumpy mechanics Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton, bundle-of-nerves navigator Veronica Cartwright, and, best of all, the ever-marvelous Ian Holm as the Nostromo's science officer. As he did a few years later in Blade Runner, Scott portrays a gritty, workaday future that's a far cry from shiny worlds of heroes and battles that we see in other sci-fi franchises. Alien is not to be missed.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
Jestak
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Re: What was the last movie you saw?

Post by Jestak »

When he produced and wrote the story for Willow, George Lucas was trying for a fantasy counterpart to Star Wars, but he was far less successful. As with his sci-fi blockbuster, Lucas pillaged numerous sources for story elements--some of his borrowing is extremely obvious. The title character, Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), is a peace-loving hobbit Nellwyn. One day, he finds a baby floating down a stream on a crude raft; little does he know that tiny Elora Dannan is the child prophesied to bring down an evil sorceress, and that he will be off on a wild journey to protect her. At his side is the roguish swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer); along the way Madmartigan falls in love with Sorsha (Joanne Whalley, soon to marry Kilmer). Also along are a pair of "brownies," inch-high precursors to Jar-Jar Binks named Franjean and Rool (an early-in-career Kevin Pollak). The story doesn't really grip the viewer, but the action is very good, and director Ron Howard moves things along pretty briskly. A decent popcorn film, nothing more.
"May the hinges of friendship never rust, nor the wings of love lose a feather"--Scottish blessing
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