What was the last movie you saw?

[Jestak]

My movie tonight was MirrorMask, an unorthodox fantasy film. Helena (Stephanie Leonidas) is a 15-year-old who, in a reverse of a standard trope, wants to run away from the circus (run by her parents) to "join the real world." One night, she is somehow drawn, or dreams her way into, an alternate reality where she must find a magical talisman in order to cure a queen who suspiciously resembles her mother. This one has an interesting premise, and an original one--nice to see in this era of endless sequels and remakes. Unfortunately, director Dave McKean (who also co-wrote with Neil Gaiman) doesn't tell the story in a compelling way--I wasn't swept along with the events of the film the way I'd hope to be. The visual imagery is striking, and Stephanie Leonidas, an Anglo-Greek actress who hasn't done much other than this film, is very solid in a lead role where she pretty much has to carry the story.

[roo-roo91]

Vampires Suck.
Epic Freaking Movie!
If you're a twi freak you may be offended.
Maybe not.
Truthfully, I'm not really into twilight anymore so,
I didn't care.
Still it was hilarious.
Crap loads of cracks at the twilight saga & a few at popular culture.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Jestak]

Zach Braff wrote, directed and stars in Garden State, which is both a romance and a quiet drama about a young man who puts his life back together. At the beginning, Andrew (Braff) returns to his hometown in New Jersey (hence the title) for his mother's funeral. Nothing so clearly conveys the messed-up state of his life as the shot, very early in the film, of his medicine cabinet, full of neatly stacked rows of prescription drugs. You have to be a bit patient with this one, and hang in until about the 25-minute mark. That's when Andrew goes to a neurologist's appointment and meets Sam (Natalie Portman). Yes, romance is in the air, but more importantly, while Sam is giving a shot of life to Andrew (bringing him out of what I think of as an emotional coma), Portman is giving a burst of energy to the whole movie, enough to carry it for the remaining hour or so. Quite enjoyable and a must-see for Portman fans.

[dandyvampgirl_13]

Wallace and Gromit: Loaf or Death It was very punny. Extremely punny. There's a lot of odd bits of humor and classic Wallace and Gromit inventions, though the plot is a bit predictable, its still all very funny and true to character. Loved it.

[Jestak]

The 2005 remake of Assault on Precinct 13 is a decent action thriller but doesn't match up either to John Carpenter's original, or the French adaptation The Nest (both of which I wrote about here recently). In this version, Precinct 13 is going to close down on January 1; on New Year's Eve it's manned by two cops and a secretary, along with a stranded police psychologist. Sgt. Roenick (Ethan Hawke) is in command. A bus transporting a quartet of prisoners is diverted there--one of then a notorious crime boss named Bishop (Laurence Fishburne)and suddenly the station is surrounded by a small army of well-armed men. The twist this time is that the men are cops, working for corrupt Captain Duvall (Gabriel Byrne); they are there not to liberate Bishop, like the thugs in The Nest, but to kill him--seem's he's about to expose Duvall and his cronies. Now cops and criminals must work together to try to survive the night. The action in this one is pretty good, but not quite as good as The Nest, and the story lacks the B-movie leanness of the Carpenter original. Instead, we get a variety of subplots and such, obviously intended to "flesh out" the characters, but not very successfully. Hawke is no more than an adequate lead, but Fishburne has a strong screen presence, and I liked Drea de Matteo's feisty secretary.

Interesting trivia--in the original, the cop in command was named Bishop; here it's the criminal.

[Jestak]

I watched Strangers on a Train tonight, one of Hitchcock's very best, dominated by Robert Walker's brilliant portrayal as psychotic Bruno Anthony. Traveling home on a train, Bruno meets tennis star Guy Haines. Conversation between the two establishes that Guy plans to divorce his unfaithful wife to marry a Senator's daughter and that Bruno hates his father. Bruno proposes, as a "theory," that they trade murders, Bruno to kill Guy's wife, and Guy, Bruno's father. Guy thinks Bruno is joking, but when his wife Miriam turns up murdered, he learns otherwise.

This is a terrific film, with tight pacing, lots of suspense, great set-pieces like the tennis match intercut with Bruno trying to retrieve Guy's cigarette lighter from a sewer, and the final showdown on a runaway merry-go-round, and lots of undertones of moral ambiguity. The viewer is invited to view the film as a contest between black and gray, morally, rather than black and white; it's definitely possible to see Guy as something other than the naive innocent he seems on the surface. Walker, who died less than a year after filming was completed, gave the performance of his career. Farley Granger is Guy, and Ruth Roman is Anne Morton, his intended; Patricia Hitchcock, the director's daughter, plays Anne's younger sister.

[Edwards Ragazza]

Repo Men starring Jude Law. Ummm lets just say I won't be rushing to the stores and buying it. Very disturbing. Basically you know how companies repo cars well they repo organs.

[Jestak]

Murder, my dear Watson. Refined, cold-blooded murder.

Yes, it was, in the most famous Sherlock Holmes case of all, The Hound of the Baskervilles, which I watched tonight--the 1939 version with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, to be specific. Some of the performances seem a bit dated today, and the studio lot sets are pretty obvious at times, but until Jeremy Brett came along in the '80's (and more recently, Robert Downey, Jr.), Rathbone was the definitive screen Holmes, and this one was the most faithful to the Conan Doyle original of any of the Rathbone/Bruce series. It's pretty enjoyable, especially when Rathbone is going through his paces.

[funkidiva]

Cinema: The A Team I wasnt expecting to like this film and went because my boyf wanted to but I actually enjoyed it It had a plot, some great action scenes and the acting was good. Also very funny at times. Would happily watch it again.

DVD: Lesbian Vampire Killers It is a comedy and my boyf liked it but for me to sum it up I would say "an odd little film". Funny at times and it had a story but thankfully it was quite short.

Repo Men - Ive read the basic plot and sounds interesting, plus I like Jude Law usually, but I imagine this film is gory

Inception - I went to see this last week but ques outside cinema were too long so gave up. Hopefully will see it this week!

[Jestak]

I normally find Jim Carey's over-the-top comic style grating, but it was a perfect fit for The Mask. Stanley Ipkiss (Carey) is a bank clerk who is perpetually letting the world walk all over him. One night, he comes into possession of a mysterious, ancient mask; when he puts it on, he undergoes a transformation, both physical and in personality. As The Mask, will he be able to stay out of the clutches of the police? Can he win the heart of singer Tina Carlyle (Cameron Diaz) and free her from the clutches of gangster Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene)? It may be that he'll need the help of his loyal dog Milo. This one was pretty entertaining; besides Carey finding a role that truly suits him, Diaz makes an enchanting film debut, and there is a lot of dazzling visual imagery that pays loving homage to animation great Tex Avery.