Recent films...

[mcr5137]

My daughter wants to see Pan's labyrinth, but it hasn't shown here yet (that I know of), so she may have to wait for the DVD! I can't wait for Children of Men to come here........I know it's not the best storyline.......but I really want to see it.

[britfan2]

Do not take young kids to this movie! It is very dark. I don't think it was meant for an audience younger than 12 or 13. Besides it is subtitled & not many kids will tolerate that.
But it is very very good.

[ukelelehip]

I saw VENUS yesterday which was fantastic and Peter O'Toole totally and utterly deserves his Oscar nom.

[ruthy]

Agreed, Uke. I saw Venus at the weekend and it's a wonderful, touchingly tender, human film about the nature of beauty. Not much happens, but everything happens. And Peter O'Toole is still beautiful, even in his advanced years. I'm now torn between him and Forest Whitaker for the gong, but FW's got many more great roles in front of him.

[mcr5137]

Well yesterday and today we have seen (and none of these were my choice) "The Lookout" which was interesting but odd......"Wild Hogs" which was a lot funnier than I thought it would be....and the ending is hysterical! And "Premonition" which was convoluted at best, but the more I think about it, the more I get it.......I think.

My choices were The Shooter and 300........both rated R and my oldest wasn't interested in either and my youngest was only interested in 300 but after 6 pm, they don't allow anyone under 17 in, even with a parent (on Fridays and Saturdays). Weird.

I can't remember the last time I saw 3 films in 2 days! It was kind of fun, even if it I didn't win on what we saw!

[mcr5137]

Ok, we rented "Children of Men" and "Blood Diamond" last night. I'm sorry to be the opposing voice here...........but I didn't really like either of them. While Clive was nice to watch, the film took a tiny portion of a story and didn't go anywhere with it! They never explained any of the major points! I was very disappointed in this one. Leo's part-time accent was terrible and other than Djimon Hounsou, I found BD to be quite disappointing as well. I felt for his character...........not for any of the others. I could have watched for a Rufus wink, but no, I had to waste 4 hours of my time! (Ok, it wasn't a total waste, at least I can now say I've seen these two films)

[pattirose]

I didn't like Children of Men either. I like the genre and Clive Owen but I found it boring and predictable.

[ree]

I watched Children of Men & Blood Diamond this past weekend.
I expected more from a book by P.D. James, but I too was
disappointed in COM. Blood Diamond was a little better, but not
by much. I'm curious what percentage of the movie was just
running or driving around while being shot at? Too much for
my taste. This movie should have been so much better considering the subject matter. IMHO

[maxx02]

I watched Infamous recently. There are two really fine performances by Toby Jones and Daniel Craig. It's rather spurred me to read In Cold Blood. I've never really been a fan of Truman Capote but this film presented a different side to him.

How interesting to see two British actors play these American icons. I must say that their accents were much better than Edward Norton's British one was in the preview for The Painted Veil. That said, EN is not one of my favorite actors.

[etherealtb]

maxx02 said:

I watched Infamous recently. There are two really fine performances by Toby Jones and Daniel Craig. It's rather spurred me to read In Cold Blood. I've never really been a fan of Truman Capote but this film presented a different side to him.

Ah, you'd recommend Infamous then? I must admit, when I saw that Toby Jones had played Capote, I couldn't think of better casting, as he really looks like Capote.

I highly recommend "The Proposition" to anyone who likes drama with complex characters. Even though this movie was a Western (although an Australian one) I enjoyed that there were no clear cut good guys or bad guys, everyone was varying shades of gray and there are no easy answer or solutions at the end. IMHO it was the best picture that came out last year.

I also highly recommend "The Queen" and "Last King of Scotland" for those who haven't seen them yet. Both are pretty damn good flicks.

[mcr5137]

I agree on "The Queen".....it was very good! I haven't seen LKoS as yet, but it's due out on DVD this next week, right? I may rent it soon. I have to say I've never heard of "The Proposition".......but I love films like that, I'll have to check for it here. Thanks etb!

Amazing Grace finally left here as of today........but it was here for 7 weeks! We had a LOT of new films begin today........I hope to see a few of them!

[maxx02]

etherealtb said:

Ah, you'd recommend Infamous then? I must admit, when I saw that Toby Jones had played Capote, I couldn't think of better casting, as he really looks like Capote.

He is really very good in it. It's nice to see him play something other than the funny little man who is being used. He and Daniel Craig have an almost magical chemistry. It's really fascinating to watch them fall in love. I don't know how enthralling the story is but from actorly POV it's a must see. It offers up a side of Truman Capote you may never have considered and reminds again that Daniel Craig is an actor not just James Bond.

[etherealtb]

I'll have to catch "Infamous" then. I don't know why, but I'm more interested in seeing this version than the one with Philip Seymour Hoffman, even though I generally like him.

[maxx02]

I've finally had a chance to see The Queen. I know a few people here really loved it so if you don't mind resurrecting your responses I'd love to hear why.

I found it watchable, but not particularly interesting or insightful. For anyone who watched Diana's behavior with an honest an open eye, it was obvious she was a spoiled unbalanced child and it shouldn't come as any great surprise to anyone that the queen lives in a world that no longer exists if it ever has for anyone but the royal family.

I'm not sure Tony Blair ever had the childlike guile and enthusiasm of Michael Sheen but having watched plenty of him, I realize that comes from the actor not the character.

I loved the scenes at Balmoral. And James Cromwell was actually quite wonderful as Philip. I don't know if the Prince is like that, but I got a kick out of him none-the-less. Must have been a rough year for actresses if Helen Mirrin won so many awards for that performance. It wasn't bad, as Helen Mirrin is usually fairly competent, but it didn't give me any great insight, much like Elizabeth which she was also lauded for this past year.

[etherealtb]

maxx02 said:

I've finally had a chance to see The Queen. I know a few people here really loved it so if you don't mind resurrecting your responses I'd love to hear why.

Overall, I thought it was just a really well written, well constructed, well directed and acted film. Maybe we just don't see enough films like that nowadays and that's why we get so excited when we finally see one. I also found the theme of the old having to come to terms with the new and being forced to adapt kicking and screaming interesting. And I'm a huge Helen Mirren fan and I thought she did a great job of completely submerging her own personality and becoming Queen Elizabeth.

And for whatever reason, I always seem to really like Stephen Frears' movies. Sometimes you just have an inexplicable affinity with a director/artist/writer. Probably has something to do with having the same sort of outlook on life the do, or seeing the world the same way they do. (*shrugs*) I'd really like to see the "pre-quel" to this movie that Frears and Sheen did called "The Deal" (also written by Peter Morgan) about how Tony Blair got into office in the first place I hope b/c of The Queen it is finally released on DVD here in the US. It sounds interesting.