Recommend a new or newish film you've seen fairly recently.

Go see Juno if you want something funny and smart and original. . .you know, if you want to see something good. The acting is top-notch all around, it's well-written, and not completely predictible.

It's in the same vein as Lars and the Real Girl (also recommended). By that I mean that they both deal with real-life problems such chronic loneliness and teenage pregancy without being cloying or preachy or, just plain obvious. Both films take risks, and for the most part, they pay off.

Two good recommendations for Juno! I will definitely see it. Thanks.

I was considering Atonement, dag, but found the reviews here a bit ambivalent. I may give it a miss & catch it on DVD later.

This is not a new or new-ish movie, I don't think, but my new favorite movie that I just watched a couple days ago is Lost in Translation with Bill Murray (awesome, awesome, awesome) and Scarlett Johanssen (also quite amazing!). Just a perfect movie, beautifully filmed, and told. I laughed so so hard and cried at the end, as well. Highly recommended!

I saw "I am Legend" on Monday, and left with a sense of disappointment. Maybe it's because I first read the book under the covers back in the late 60's and frightened the crape out of myself, and expected it to match up in some way.
Some bits were good, but the last twenty minutes or so just ruined it for me. All gore, blood and screaming which could have been handled so much better. The "redemption" part at the end was quite laughable.

An OK film if you've left your brain at home and are easily frightened.

Its predecessor, "the last man on earth" was better. It would seem dated now, but back then it definitely hit the spot, which is more than can be said for this latest attempt.

Looking forward to a mad rush of recommendations!
It's summer here & some of us have a lot more time on our hands than usual. I missed out on so many good films, I'm sure, during 2007. I'll probably have to catch some of them on DVD, but that's fine.


(So ..... hint, hint! :wink:)

I saw it yesterday, dag, & was left with confused feelings about why I didn't find it more satisfying than I "should" have. I mean, all the right ingredients were there, right? So why didn't it quite work?
I thought about it a bit more & came to the conclusion that the original story (the wrongful accusation by Briony) became overwhelmed by the "futility of war" message of the Dunkirk part of the film. The "war" section of the film sort of took on a separate life of its own (& went on for far too long!) & distracted from the original story. (Very powerful it was, too!) For me, anyway, the two separate strands of the story were not successfully tied together to create a satisfactory whole. If it wasn't for the masterful performance of Vanessa Redgrave (at the very end of the film) I doubt the director could have pulled it off at all. She was fantastic! Utterly convincing as the aging Briony, she drew our attention back to the idea of process of writing as a means of making sense of experience ... and in Briony's case, atoning for a terrible wrong by changing the "real" ending of the story to one that was (finally) sympathetic to those she had wronged.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/342550_atonement07q.html

The next film I intend seeing is Juno. Good recommendations here & also in the local reviews in the media. It opened just last week here. Not sure why it took so long.
Another (the likely next one) is looking like The Kite Runner. Anyone seen it? As terrific as the reviewers are saying?

I saw Juno today and I loved it. Jake Kasdan (the director) has quite a future, I'd say.

I haven't seen Kite Runner yet, but it's on my list.

Another terrific endorsement from another discerning A2K movie goer!

That's it! I will definitely be seeing this one on this coming (half-price) Monday at the Nova!

Msolga, I look forward to hearing what you think about it. I laughed and cried. That is quite rare for me.

I will report back, mac. (Hey, that rhymes! )

Well I saw it today, mac. What a delightful film!
There wasn't a single character in it that I couldn't like or couldn't emphathise (sp?) with ... & who wasn't absolutely convincing in their role.
Ellen Page, in particular, was absolutely terrific as Juno.
Highly recommended.
(... & yeah, I had to get my tissues out once or twice, too! :wink:)

Here's the NYTimes review for any of you who might be interested in learning a bit more about the film.:

Seeking Mr. and Mrs. Right for a Baby on the Way

December 5, 2007/NYT film review



Juno MacGuff, the title character of Jason Reitman’s new film, is 16 and pregnant, but “Juno” could not be further from the kind of hand-wringing, moralizing melodrama that such a condition might suggest. Juno, played by the poised, frighteningly talented Ellen Page, is too odd and too smart to be either a case study or the object of leering disapproval. She assesses her problem, and weighs her response to it, with disconcerting sang-froid.

It’s not that Juno treats her pregnancy as a joke, but rather that in the sardonic spirit of the screenwriter, Diablo Cody, she can’t help finding humor in it. Tiny of frame and huge of belly, Juno utters wisecracks as if they were breathing exercises, referring to herself as “the cautionary whale.”

At first her sarcasm is bracing and also a bit jarring — “Hello, I’d like to procure a hasty abortion,” she says when she calls a women’s health clinic — but as “Juno” follows her from pregnancy test to delivery room (and hastily retreats from the prospect of abortion), it takes on surprising delicacy and emotional depth. The snappy one-liners are a brilliant distraction, Ms. Cody’s way of clearing your throat for the lump you’re likely to find there in the movie’s last scenes.

The first time I saw “Juno,” I was shocked to find myself tearing up at the end, since I’d spent the first 15 minutes or so gnashing my teeth and checking my watch. The passive-aggressive pseudo-folk songs, the self-consciously clever dialogue, the generic, instantly mockable suburban setting — if you can find Sundance on a map, you’ll swear you’ve been here before.

But “Juno” (which played at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals, not the one in Park City, Utah) respects the idiosyncrasies of its characters rather than exaggerating them or holding them up for ridicule. And like Juno herself, the film outgrows its own mannerisms and defenses, evolving from a coy, knowing farce into a heartfelt, serious comedy. ...<cont>

http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/movies/05juno.html

I've been out of the film loop for months now (very, very busy!) but with school holidays coming up, I'm hoping to start catching up a bit ...
So any excellent recommendations, anyone? (Showing now in cinemas & also videos. I've missed heaps!)

Thanks in advance.

Bank job.


That was pretty good.

I also just saw... No country for old men? Or country for old men... something like that..
It had ......... oh my....... now I cant remember his name..

Sheesh..
I gotta google..

Tommy Lee Jones.. thats his name. Sheeeesh. Couldnt even remember and I only saw the movie about 4 days ago.

Anyway, it was a really good movie. Nothing like I expected it to be. Definitely worth watching.

Thanks for the Google-ing effort, shewolf, but I must confess I've already seen No Country For Old Men. Good, yes. I agree.

Bank Job I haven't heard of, but will check it out.

Thank you!

Watched '21' with Kevin Spacey last night. It was entertaining enough but highly predictable.

Thank you, eoe.
(Your "highly predictable" description kind of puts me off ... a little. )

We're just back from watching Igor. I loved it. Set liked parts, The Empress was noted to be laughing quite a bit. We all liked the music - lots of Louis Prima. Imagine that, an animated film with a Louis Prima soundtrack. Good just for that.

Last week we went to see Burn After Reading. Set liked it quite a bit, brendalee thought it wasn't bad, I was very occasionally slightly amused.