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The Best Movies... Ever!

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Don't bother with A Christmas Carol (too scary for kids, and dull anyway), and Where the Wild Things Are (ditto).
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    AVATAR is fun to look at, and tediously boring. Story? What story?

    If you have a large flat screen TV, wait and rent it, when you can put it on pause and take a nap.
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    michaellnomichaellno Member Posts: 4,120
    Despite the trailers and other scenes that you've probably seen, I walked out of this movie feeling sad.

    I suppose it's because of where I am in my life and knowing what's happened to so many folks lately (job losses) that I felt this way.

    There were, however, many funny moments and, overall, I enjoyed the movie. Just don't go in expecting to come out overjoyed.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I've heard the same reaction from quite a few people. Well, fine, I'm getting very tired of the obligatory Hollywood happy ending. It has made all outcomes predictable. I can watch TV if I want that.

    I felt the same about The Wrestler--- a fantastic movie but it skews all the expected cliches....the come-back kid does not "win", he does not marry the good-hearted stripper, and the reconciliation with his long-lost daughter is not one big smiley face.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That's actually what I liked about it. It was gritty and real.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Fabulous movie. It pulled a 98% on rottentomatoes.com. That's a remarkable score to get from moviegoers who are just randomly entering the site to vote. Even Sean Penn just about admitted at the Oscars that Mickey Rourke was robbed.
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    jipsterjipster Member Posts: 6,244
    that Mickey Rourke was robbed.

    Pre or post botched face lift? I'll try to rent that one on RedBox... sounds good.
    2020 Honda Accord EX-L, 2011 Hyundai Veracruz, 2010 Mercury Milan Premiere, 2007 Kia Optima
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The botch works with his character - an image-is-everything old man trying to seem like an invincible young wrestler.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That's what I liked about the movie---Rourke turned the camera on himself really---the real him---and didn't pull any punches. It was brutally honest and took real guts to expose one's soul to the camera. The entire film "rang true" as few films ever can. This is not Meryl Streep over-acting yet again.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You didn't like Mama Mia? :D

    My daughter just watched that on HBO. I'm not really a fan of musicals. They sing about every little thing, it's like a bad Elvis movie. :shades:
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    She drove me nuts in Julie and Julia---she really hammed it up. I liked her in "Doubt" though.
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    snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,328
    Well, fine, I'm getting very tired of the obligatory Hollywood happy ending. It has made all outcomes predictable

    Try reading the book "Battle of Brazil" Its about the fight Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python) had with Universal studios over his movie "Brazil" (One of the best movies ever BTW). The movie has a very dark ending but Universal wanted a happy ending. The result is that there are two versions of the movie one Gilliam's vision with the dark ending and the studios version called "The love conquers all" version. Most people view the "love conquers all" version as junk.

    2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    You didn't like Mama Mia?

    It's worth watching just to hear Pierce Brosnan break out in song. :)
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Poor boy can't sing worth a damn.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Oh that part was painful. Streep pulled it off, sort of.

    If Pierce were a horse in Brazil, and it sounded like that, we'd take it out back and shoot it, out of mercy.

    I gotta see that movie, BTW, I was born in Brazil. Is that where it's set?
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    snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,328
    I gotta see that movie, BTW, I was born in Brazil. Is that where it's set?

    Sorry, the name of the country in which "Brazil" is set is never mentioned. The title comes from the song "Brazil" which, in various versions, is the only song in the movies soundtrack. It has something to do about the "escapistsness" of the song. In the opening it gives the date as "Somewhere in the 20th Century" and the sets, designs and clothing have elements of every decade of the 20th century.

    2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D

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    jipsterjipster Member Posts: 6,244
    Cloudy with a Chance of Da Meatballs: It was fairly decent. A few smiles and a chuckle from my son. Clever and entertaining with a nice moral. 2 1/2 "Jip"Stars.

    District 9: One odd ball and nutty movie. Came close in the beginning to turning it off. Turned out to be fairly good. Throw logic out the window, and the 1.8 million aliens (these would be the type from outer space) living in a detention camp in Johannesburg Africa isn't that far fetched. Cheesy and campy, I thought it moved along at a nice pace. Reminded me a lot of the movie, "The Fly". It gets 2 1/2 "Jip"Stars.
    2020 Honda Accord EX-L, 2011 Hyundai Veracruz, 2010 Mercury Milan Premiere, 2007 Kia Optima
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Maybe it's because we've seen a lot of real stinkers lately (Where the Wild Things Are, Disney's a Christmas Carol), but Cloudy was sooooo much better than those that I remember it fondly.
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    tlongtlong Member Posts: 5,194
    District 9
    Up
    Star Trek

    (I guess I like fantasies...)

    I saw Up in the Air. It was very well done, but somewhat depressing. My teenage kids didn't like it. It's still good they saw some reality of how life is out there.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Even Clooney got a dose of reality at the Oscars. Did he look unhappy or what?
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    He sure did.

    Good movie, though my wife said it: he plays the same character in every movie or show. He's always George.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    So true. Most actors today are not really "actors". They are specialists, somewhat slightly altered versions of themselves. Maybe that's why they get so confused about life? :P Exceptions of course, like Meryl Streep perhaps...she has range. So did Marlon Brando, John Gielgud etc. They were actors, they could play just about anything (and often tried to). I mean, it takes guts for someone like Brando to play a waterfront dockworker, an Okinawan houseboy, Fletcher Christian, Marc Antony and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. He sings, he dances, he does Shakespeare!
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Mariah Carey has range.

    She sucked in Precious.

    She REALLY sucked in Glitter.

    Big range there, between sucking, and really sucking. :D
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    edited March 2010
    She *does* know how to go from bad to worse, that's true---LOL!

    I'm going to try a New Rule for a few months---I'm not going to *any* movie that employs actors who names I recognize.

    A few years ago, I tried another rule, which was to come into the movie 15 minutes late on purpose, so that I'd have at least some challenge figuring out the plot. That actually was fun most of the time and helped to mitigate the boring, grinding formulas often used in movies---it got so easy to guess the plot turns that I lost interest. :(

    Then of course there's still the problem of the Obligatory Happy Hollywood Ending.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited March 2010
    lol, that would work for me.

    I don't really enjoy movies all that much, but it's fun to see one down in Mexico, especially if it's a US movie with subtitles. (Ok, even JFK was awful there too).

    One time we went to see Bruce Willis in Sixth Sense in Mazatlan. We got tickets and walked in and found seats. The lights were up and there were maybe 15 or 20 people milling about, eating popcorn, etc.

    The lights went down and the movie started right up - no boring previews or anything. The plot seemed to have some holes in it but it didn't take long to get immersed in it.

    15 minutes later they were rolling the credits. We had walked into the wrong theater of a 4 screen multiplex. :shades: This place took long breaks between reels so that everyone had plenty of time to hit the concession stand.

    I got brownie points for taking my wife to a movie and only missed 15 minutes of sunshine. We had seen enough of it to figure it out and figure out that it really wasn't worth sitting through the whole thing. It was perfect. :)
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yep - the problem is movies are too predictable. They all follow the same formula.

    I liked Up in the Air, but I told my wife exactly what was going to happen when Clooney knocked on that door.
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    They've all taken courses in screen writing is the problem.
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    michaellnomichaellno Member Posts: 4,120
    Saw this yesterday with wife and daughter.

    Lots of action, fairly decent plot, and Matt Damon is actually quite believable as a US Army CWO searching for WMD's.

    Afterwards, my daughter commented that it was a big change to see Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear on screen together but not joined at the hip, as they were in "Stuck on You". And, Kinnear was the bad guy.

    Only thing that bothered me was Brendon Gleeson as a CIA representative - he had a hard time hiding his British accent.
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    andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    The result is that there are two versions of the movie one Gilliam's vision with the dark ending and the studios version called "The love conquers all" version. Most people view the "love conquers all" version as junk.

    I heard back before Quentin Tarantino became a Legend he wrote a script for the movie True Romance. Hollywood forced the script to be changed for a Hollywood ending (and he also didn't get a chance to direct it himself), which of course Tarantino hated and you never ever see him even talk or mention True Romance as one of his films.

    I still really liked the movie, thought it was very good, even with the Hollywood happy ending.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited March 2014
    Captain Phillips.

    Good reviews.

    Boring movie.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited March 2014

    Nebraska.

    Something tells me Subaru wasn't too happy with this one.

    Then again, seeing the characters who liked their pickups, maybe they did appreciate it.

    One of the goofs in the movie shows one of the lead characters filling up the Outback on the driver's side.

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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,169

    The screenwriter for "Nebraska" , Bob Nelson, is a Seattle area native, and was a main figure on the beloved old local comedy show, "Almost Live".

    On a car theme, he is the driver on the "Ballard Driving Academy" skit:

    http://youtu.be/KBgIvH0tu6Y

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    American Hustle.

    10 thumbs down. How this noisy mindless schlock got good numbers at Rotten Tomatoes is beyond us.

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

    No Roddy McDowell and a bit predictable, but pretty okay.

    Left with a big banana craving....

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2015
    Mr. Holmes. Entertaining flick, esp. if you happen to be a Holmes fan. Didn't appeal to my wife so much. Biggest downer was watching it a commercial theatre with literally 30 minutes of commercials. Won't make that mistake again.

    There's a local film club here that does a good job. I'm not much of a movie buff, but this place is casual, the movies are usually interesting choices, and there's a interior passageway to the adjoining restaurant and you are welcome to buy a margarita and enjoy it at your seat while enjoying the movie. Cheap popcorn too.

    Tonight's flick was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, sort of a Breakfast Club meets death. Hilarious.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited September 2015
    Best of Enemies. Fun documentary flick, at least for those of us of a certain age who remember the 60s and Mayor Daley (Daley 1). The debate between Buckley and Vidal is credited with creating the forerunner to the "Jane, you ignorant slut" TV debate format.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    The Martian. Somewhere along the line I read the first part of the novel. The author offered some free chapters at his web site. The book was okay but not gripping enough for me to actually want to buy it or chase it down at the library.

    The movie was quite good (we passed on the 3D version) although the plot was pretty predictible .
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    GloriaWalkerGloriaWalker Member Posts: 7
    "Baby's day out" for me :)
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    JahamesJahames Member Posts: 5
    stever said:

    You didn't like Mama Mia?

    It's worth watching just to hear Pierce Brosnan break out in song. :)

    Definitely a high point for me too! Thought it was pretty good in general.
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