The Last Movie You Saw On DVD or VHS or TV.

McMurtry usually winds a complex tale or two around events that often go very badly for several of the participants. However, in his effort to develop these complex tales, he runs out of steam towards the last quarter of the books. SO, when they adapt these things to film,(and hes on staff as an advisor with some influence) The pooping out gets noticeable and then the book gets a nasty review .

A buddy of mine who teaches English lit had made his sophomore students rewrite several books (outline only) and in each case, IMHO, the kids really improved MacMurtry's effort.

Said that but Im still a big Larry McMurtry fan, The first three quarters of his books are often phenomenal. (He just cant do endings).
The denoument of a McMurtry book is usually accompaned by a large sound of a baloon deflating.

I like and even love some of his stories. Just not lately.

And then:
- After School Special (2003, Barely Legal), I wanted mindless silliness and I got it
- Raja 1918 (2007, The border), depressing Finnish civil war drama, only the bad survive)
- Silk (2007) failed attempt at merging European costume drama with Japanese historic drama, despte Keira Knightley.
- River Queen (2005), Maoris do not rule in this flick
- Cloverfield (2008), had avoided it at first, but not as bad as predicted
- The Brave One (2007, The Stranger in Yu), actually good revenge drama with Jodie Foster.
- Hart's War (2002), different from what I expected and therefore better than whatI expected, with Terence Howard (also in above)
- Sungnyangpali sonyeoui jaerim (2002, Resurrection of the Little Match Girl), so completely different from what I expected that I simply had to like it.
- 36 Quai des Orfèvres (2004), solid French crime drama, dénouément a bit too weak though
- Good Luck Chuck (2007), uncomplicated romantic comedy with Jesica Alba
- Hoodwinked (2005), quite amusing animation

Saw Godard's "Bande A Parte" this weekend. Painful to watch. Can any Godardists explain the charm of that movie with critics.?

"Mama Mia" with Meryl Streep. Just delightful. Merry Andrew called it a "woman's movie".

Well, of course it is a chick flick and you do have to like ABBA!

I just saw the Blu-ray DVD of the Director's Cut of "Dark City."

See WA2K On the Air:

http://able2know.org/topic/40045-2332#post-3703703

And more:
- Äideistä parhain (2005, Mother of Mine), Excellent, one of those rare Finnish films that are good in every respect (story, acting, score, cinematography, etc), very emotional wartime family drama.
- Akvaariorakkaus (1993, Love in a Fish Bowl), very dated Finnish relationship drama with the obligatory nudity
- Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005), documentary about The Lord of the Rings and its fan base, geeks only
- Kinsey (2004), the guy deserved a biopic and so there it is, fall just short of engrossing
- How to Make a Monster (2001), mildly entertaining creature feature

I watched Defiance and Rachel Getting Married last night.

I recommend Defiance without reservation. It was well done and inspiring (and based on a true story).

Rachel Getting Married was entertaining - if I have a criticism, it's that I thought the soundtrack was intrusive -a little heavy handed in terms of a tool to impress on the viewer exactly how 'cool' these people were based on their musician friends. I love music and the fiddle, but even I was thinking, 'Could that guy lose the fiddle for even just five minutes?
But interesting characterizations and story line and I thought it was worthwhile in the end.

- La Môme (2007, La Vie en rose), good biopic, Marion Cotillard really earned that Oscar!
- Shooter (2007), predictable action flick
- Rescue Dawn (2006), Vietnam POW drama, rather weak start, satisfactory second half.
- Things We Lost in the Fire (2007), really good film, who cannot but love Halley Berry in a serious role?!

Harry potter and the half blood prince
not as good as the book but ok

An old DeNiro flick "Night and the City" with Jessica Lange. What a prick. Like every character he plays, he does it sooooo well.

Oh, I still can't get over Halley Berry in Things we Lost in the Fire, the best role I've seen her in.

- The Veteran (2006), in contrast to Rescue Dawn, it starts ok, but the end is weak.
- 101 Reykjavik, saw it in Icelandic with Finnish subtitles, for anyone in the know, that is quite hard work, which wasn't made easier by the fact that the protagonist is utterly unsympathetic to me. Even if he is a Scandinavian stereotype going back to Knut Hamsun and the likes.
- The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006) , I saw and despised the first installment and the second film was no different, ridiculous, but I knew it.
- Quills (2000), any film dealing with the Marquis de Sade is affected by his disturbed mindbends and so is this. Still, as a film, it is not bad.
- Breakfast on Pluto (2005), it takes quite a while to start liking this film. It is very much about love.

Hi, EOE!

Hi yourself!
I haven't seen "Things We Lost in the Fire'. Has it come on cable yet?

The Man who Went Up A Hill and Came Down A Mountain. Cute, but not worthy of second watches.

- Cashback (2006), nice romantic comedy
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), had to see it, but did not live up to the original (as was to be expected)
- Twilight (2008), emasculated vampire flick for adolescent girls.
- "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (2008), pilot of series based on charming detective novels set in Botswana. Nice imagery.
- Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007), B-horror fun

The Ron Clark Story

A made for TV movie based on a true story about a young white teacher from North Carolina who takes over a problem class in a Harlem public school and turns the kids around.

Lots of predictable feel good scenes and some unbelievable situations, but on the whole a very satisfying movie.

Matthew Perry is excellent as the lead and the interview with the real Ron Clark in the extras section is worthwhile too.

the last film i watched as the new harry pottter it was actually quite good

The Original "School for SCoundrels", where everything in life is a "ploy"

Moon
Winner of Best New British Feature at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival, MOON stars Sam Rockwell as a lone astronaut who,while in the final weeks of a three-year contract mining energy from the moon, wakes up in his lunar base after a freak accident - and suddenly discovers that he's not alone.Kevin Spacey does his best HAL impression as the voice of the on-board computer.Made the way they used to make them years ago,this film doesn't rely on CGI FX to grab your attention.If you enjoyed Dark Star,Silent Running and 2001 then this is right up your street.

I've heard good things and I believe it's opening next week here at our superb theater. I'll definitely go.