@Shapeless,
No, I hadn't read the graphic novel. No worries on following the plot, though.
I finally saw The Dark Knight but kept falling asleep . . . which is probably the best way to see a Batman movie.
Crazy Heart is the best of a small group of films.
I've watched around a dozen movies this year. For some weird reason, Up in the Air stood out for me. One of my friends didn't like it much. "Nothing great about it," she said. Yea, it may not be great, but there's something about it that sort of strikes a chord within. I think it tells the story of our time -recession, getting fired, etc.
And I liked the heated conversations between Clooney and the young recruit of his company.
It's got that American Beauty feel to it, which fascinated me.
@spidergal,
Yes...I liked that too.
My current favourite is The Last Station.
Oh my!!!!!
Such a wonderful and complex examination of Tolstoy's marriage in its later years (with HELEN MIRREN as Countess Tolstoya!)
And it's evocation of the iconification of Tolstoy.
Brilliant.
@dlowan,
I really wanted to see The Last Station because I am a long time Helen Mirren fan but did not have the time during the two weeks it showed locally. I really like going to the theatre over sitting in front of my computer watching at my desk.
Went to see Iron Man 2 this afternoon. It was well worth seeing it in the theaters. Almost as great as the first one. Missed it by a hair's width.
Loved the geeky mechanical engineering scenes in the second which were a big part of the first movie.
I've been on a comedy kick.
Recently saw The Hot Tub Time Machine and The Back up Plan. Both which were great in their own way. Hot Tub, being silly, irreverent and totally meaningless. Which is nice sometimes to not have to think about anything. And the Back Up plan because the love of my life starred in it.
@spidergal,
Just saw
Up in the Air on DVD and liked it OK. Kinda depressing in that it reminded me a lot of my brother.
Also saw
Butterfly Effect recently. Interesting-to-watch time travel flick, but a couple of logical inconsistencies plus the ending made it not one of my favorites.
AVATAR was excellent! I loved the movie so much I went back and saw it again, then rented it and saw it again.
Sure, it's got some korny lines here and there, and the stereotyping is almost hilarious (especially the army personnel).
But the research that obviously went into the movie is incredible. Most especially because of the content which seems to have been researched so well. Creating new species of animals, basically thinking up an entire eco-system based on ours on Earth.
Most of all, the understanding of the universal soul and spirit; it was truly incredible.
Of course 3d is cool too.
Just recently saw this Jim Carrey movie "yes man" and it was surprisingly good.
Jim Carrey's friend convinces him to attend a 'yes' seminar, where he is then engaged in a covenant to say yes to every opportunity, which leads him on hilarious yet fulfilling journey, especially since he's a loan officer. Saying yes all the time..ha.
Also, A Scanner Darkly was great. I love roto-scoped movies, I love movies that question our society in any way, and use current sitations as very firm foundations for a crazy movie. It's also a Richard Linklater film, which leads me to my perennial favorite:
Waking Life.
It's about dreams. The main character basically happens upon all of these different scenes and litle conversations, all of the discussing dreams and existence etc. It's also rotoscoped, live action animated basically.
And he made dazed and confused.
And slacker.
@plainoldme,
plainoldme wrote:
I finally saw The Dark Knight but kept falling asleep . . . which is probably the best way to see a Batman movie.
Sounds like the opposite of me, I love batman movies. They got shaky in the 90's, but damn, the dark knight was surprisingly excellent. I thought the movie was all hype, then I saw it and realized it was great.
Actually, once I watched all the batman movies through an entire night to lead up to the release of the 2nd to last batman that came out.
Oh yeah:
All of this dark knight talk reminds of one I recently saw and thoroughly enjoyed:
The Wonder Emporium of Dr. Parnassus.
I think that's the correct name for it.
Anyways, I loved it, touched on some really awesome themes, had great acting, Tom Waits was even in it! Heath Ledger was behind this one, and wore a very intersting dero looking mask too.
The best movie of 2010 will surely be Mao's Last Dancer. God, what an exciting movie, very beautiful to watch. So were the other people in the audience.
@DrewDad,
Quote:just saw Up in the Air on DVD and liked it OK.
Just saw The American, again with Clooney carrying the movie. The dirty little secret is that this is an ART flick.
Thoroughly enjoyed the slow pace, cast, cinematography and lack of a soundtrack.
@panzade,
Somewhere in my room are two Netflix DVD's:
Up in the Air and the first disc to the Dr. Who flick
End of Time. Both are kind of lost and remain unwatched.
Here is my tally of this year's (2010 theatrically released) crop of films:
10/10
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Toy Story 3
Inception
Kick-Ass
9/10
Soul Kitchen
Despicable Me
Iron Man 2
Micmacs
Minor disappointments:
7/10
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Dinner For Schmucks
Comedy/drama = Green
Foreign language = Red
Action = Blue
Animated = Brown
Each film is arranged in order of preference within their respective ratings.
It was last year, but the Lady Diane and I saw The Bucket List. The story of two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.
BBB
@panzade,
That's why The American is on my netflix list (once they distribute it).
@ossobuco,
Yes, osso. You will love the scenes shot in the Italian countryside.
Except for some breath-taking panoramas, there's no need to see it at a movie theater.
