What was the last movie you saw?

[Tornado]

I wasn't overly thrilled with the 2006 version. I liked their use of colour, but I thought they took a few too many liberties with the more important scenes, especially considering it was a mini series and had more time than the average movie. This film managed to fit the story into only two hours quite well. In fact, as far as the script went, I thought it was the best adaptation in a single movie time frame that I have seen so far. I also wasn't totally sold on Toby Stephens. Mr Rochester in this movie grew on me, but as I said, I thought at times he didn't have enough chemistry with Jane. She was one of the best Janes I have seen. I liked Jane in the 2006 one as well. I think they are equal for the best portrayals of Jane out of the ones I have seen.

[Jestak]

Blood Simple, as several of you probably know, was the Coen Brothers' debut film from 1984, as well as the debut of Frances McDormand. While I've seen some pretty mixed reviews of some of the Coen's films, whenever they get down to reworking the conventions of crime films, they seem to do very well. This one builds on the oldest of plots, the love triangle; bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires a private detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to off his cheating wife Abby (McDormand) and her lover Ray (John Getz). But, the shamus has his own agenda. With the help of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld and a score from Carter Burwell (this was his debut, too), the Coens turn out a terrific show on a modest budget; Walsh and McDormand give excellent performances.

[Edwards Ragazza]

Limitless starring Bradley Cooper. Great movie. Eccentric,action packed.

[21Twilight21]

Final Destination 5 was the last movie I saw. It wasn't the greatest movie in the series. I enjoyed the first three, but now it is just ridiculous the way they try to make everything more and more gruesome. It's all fake now, even though the first few were a bit far-fetched in the first place. The series needs to end for good.

[Jestak]

The Palm Beach Story is a terrific romantic comedy directed by Preston Sturges, part of a run of incredible comedies he made in the early 1940s. In this one, Gerry and Tom Jeffers (Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea) are a financially struggling married couple. Gerry makes up her very determined mind that the solution is for her to divorce Tom and marry a rich schmuck, who will then finance Tom's ideas (he's an architect). She leaves him and eventually meets up with "John D. Hackensacker III," played by Rudy Vallee (and no prize for guessing which real-life millionaire he's modeled after). McCrea meanwhile has followed her to Palm Beach to win her back, but he first must fight off the advances of Hackensacker's sister (Mary Astor). Colbert was in here element here, and Vallee, in his best film role, is likewise immensely funny. McCrea isn't a great comic, but he's the straight man so it doesn't really matter (and he was a very good straight man). Along the way, we meet a population of eccentrics like the Wienie King (Robert Dudley) and the rambunctious Ale and Quail Club. A great, fun movie with a wild plot twist at the end.

[Jestak]

Resurrection Men is one of the British telefilms based on Ian Rankin's novels about Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus (which are favorites of mine). In this one, based on the novel of the same title, Rebus (Ken Stott) is sent back to Tulliallan, the Scottish Police College for a kind of refresher course after an altercation with his supervisor. Meanwhile, DS Siobhan Clarke (Claire Price), Rebus's normal partner, is investigating the murder of a shady art dealer. But it may be that there's a hidden reason why Rebus is at Tulliallan. The big problem with this one is that, in order to fit Rankin's 500-plus page novel into a running time of under 70 minutes, several elements of his intricate plot have been mashed together in a rushed, haphazard way that really doesn't work. I do like the casting of both Stott and Price, however--within the limits of the script, they both get their characters, and the complex relationship between them, just about right. One nice touch--Stott, like Rebus, is an Edinburgh native, while Price, like her character, is English.

[Jestak]

In Supercop, Jackie Chan returns to the role of Hong Kong policeman Ka Kui Chan, following on the two "Police Story" films. This time out, Ka Kui travels to mainland China to cooperate with Interpol Inspector Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh) in a complicated sting to bring down a drug dealer. But, his long-suffering girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung) may end up inadvertently blowing his cover. The plot is, if possible, even more far-fetched than the first two films, but with Chan and Yeoh on board, the action should be high-octane enough for even the most hardened adrenaline junkies.

[Jestak]

My movie tonight was The Gods Must Be Crazy, which was a record-setter in terms of box office receipts for a foreign film. Made in South Africa, it begins among a family of Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert, including Xi (a Namibian bushman named N!xau). When a Coca-Cola bottle dropped by a passing airplane comes into their little community, it causes such dissension that Xi decides to take it far away. When his journey takes him to Botswana, his fate becomes intertwined with a number of others: 1) a socially awkward biologist (Marius Weyers), who has romantic designs on 2) the new schoolteacher in a Botswanan village (Sandra Prinsloo), 3) a guerrilla leader from another country, and 4) the local Fire Enforcement Officer (a rhino. Yes, a rhino!). There's been more than a bit of argument over the years about the social attitudes the film portrays, and its treatment of the Bushmen culture. However, I've always found the performances very enjoyable. N!xau is a truly charming, winning screen presence, and Weyers is a great comic performer. Plus, the rhino is a scene-stealer.

[Jestak]

While Rope is not one of Alfred Hitchcock's true classics, it has some interesting elements. The story is drawn from the infamous Leopold and Loeb murders. Brandon (John Dall) and Philip (Farley Granger) have killed their old schoolmate David, and now they're having a dinner party. The guests include David's father (Cedric Hardwicke) and fiancee (Joan Chandler), as well as Rupert (James Stewart), Brandon and Philip's former intellectual mentor. What none of the guests know is that David's body is right there in the room with them, concealed within a wooden chest. The unique thing about the film is that Hitchcock shot it in only 9 or 10 long shots, edited together to make the entire film appear to be a single long take. Aside from the technical trick, Rope is noteworthy for the performances of Dall and Granger; sadly, Stewart was not at his best and often seems uncomfortable in his role; the film did, however, mark the beginning of a long and fruitful working relationship between Stewart and Hitchcock.

[Jestak]

Michael Connelly is one of my favorite novelists, so I was pleased to finally be able to watch the film version of one of his best books, The Lincoln Lawyer. Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is one of the best criminal lawyers in Los Angeles; instead of having an office, he works out of his Lincoln Town Car. When he's contacted by an accused rapist named Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), he think's he's landed a "franchise case," as his client is a high-powered realtor with an income in the high six figures. But once the case gets going, Mickey and his investigator Frank Levin (William H. Macy) start coming across connections to one of Mickey's older cases, involving a client who ended up in San Quentin, barely escaping the death penalty. On the side, Mickey also tries to maintain good relations with his ex-wife, Assistant DA Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei)

This isn't an ideal adaptation, but it's a pretty good one--far better than the film version of Blood Work, the only other Connelly novel to make it to the screen to date. The plot is simplified and dumbed down a bit, but that's the norm with book-to-film transitions. McConaughey is a pretty good choice as Mickey Haller, aside from being unable to shed his Texas accent. This is the best work I've seen from William H. Macy in quite a while, and Tomei is another good choice to play "Maggie McFierce." Ryan Phillippe, however, is not as convincing--he's never done this sort of role terribly well. Down the cast, there are small but nice performances from Michael Pena, Margarita Levieva, and Pell James.