Recently Viewed Movies Episode 2: The Vampire Bites Back

[Blace]

Saw "The Shawshank Redemption" (wonderful as always) and "The Help" yesterday. The latter was good. I liked it and I liked that a lot of it is the way I visualized the book to be; but the book is still infinitely better. They cut out some of my favourite scenes.

Watched "The Elephant Man" today and thought it was really sad. I cwied. :(

I watched The Help yesterday too. I haven't read the book, but I thought the movie was pretty good. Viola Davis was amazing and I'm glad she is finally getting some more recognition because I've always thought she was under-appreciated. Emma Stone hasn't really been talked about since the awards season has kicked in so I expected here to be kind of mediocre in this, but she was pretty good too. I don't think it deserves a best picture nomination (especially over movies like Drive and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but that's another story), but it's solid and has good messages. 

[Tooker]

I! AM! NOT! AN! ANIMAL!!!

Holy crap.  I have not seen that movie, so I thought that line just came from Police Squad.  The TV series that spawned the Naked Gun movies.  Here's the relevant clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFynjrjZG_w&t=6m33s

Re: The Help, I thought this article was pretty freaking interesting.  Here's the first sentence: "You know something very bizarre is going on in Hollywood when the movie 'Rise of Planet of the Apes' tells more about the black experience in America than 'The Help.'"
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/i-wish-i-knew-how-it-would-feel-to-be-free-on-rise-of-planet-of-the-apes-and-the-help/discrimination/2011/08/21/25639

[GrimReality]

Super 8 - Talk about frustrating! It was going so well there for awhile. Then the last 15 minutes happened.
It's obvious Spielberg and J.J. were going for that 80's Speilberg film vibe, and they nailed it big time. The group of kids. The middle America hometown atmosphere. It was so perfect. Even the mystery behind the accident that happens, and what it unleashed was well done. It's like a amalgamation of E.T., The Goonies, District 9, and all sorts of other Alien/group of kid movies.
Unfortunately, they just couldn't pull it all together in the end. It's ends too quickly, with way too many questions and threads still out there. Maybe if they had another 10-15 minutes it would have helped, but I'm not too sure about that. Apparently they were going for a perfect, sappy ending.
*sighs*
So much lost potential. It gets 3 stars for the first 3/4s of the movie being great. watch it until theres 20 minutes left, then turn it off, and finish it in your head.

[Dice]

Super 8 - Talk about frustrating! It was going so well there for awhile. Then the last 15 minutes happened.
It's obvious Spielberg and J.J. were going for that 80's Speilberg film vibe, and they nailed it big time. The group of kids. The middle America hometown atmosphere. It was so perfect. Even the mystery behind the accident that happens, and what it unleashed was well done. It's like a amalgamation of E.T., The Goonies, District 9, and all sorts of other Alien/group of kid movies.
Unfortunately, they just couldn't pull it all together in the end. It's ends too quickly, with way too many questions and threads still out there. Maybe if they had another 10-15 minutes it would have helped, but I'm not too sure about that. Apparently they were going for a perfect, sappy ending.
*sighs*
So much lost potential. It gets 3 stars for the first 3/4s of the movie being great. watch it until theres 20 minutes left, then turn it off, and finish it in your head.

I thought it was sloppy in regards to the alien...  he was the mysterious alien, he was apparently a sort-of friendly alien, then he went "Ripley Scott Alien" at other times.

The dad was a waste of any sort of badass too.

Everything else was cool...

Oh, except for the fucking lens flare being in full bloom.

[Yoda]

Watched 50/50 last night and I loved it. Three awesome things:

1) seth rogen in the role he's made to be: stoner friend
2) jason gordon levitt
3) anna kendrick whom I have a crush on. What a little cutiepie!


Movie is funny, touching, and a tour de force.

out of

[GrimReality]

Midnight in Paris - This movie is a total love letter to Paris. Everything about it just makes you want to go there asap. If more people actually saw this movie I could totally see a tourism boom. It just makes it look so vibrant, romantic, and ethereal. The city itself truly is the star of this movie.
The actual story here is kind of pointless, and the weak point of the movie. I was wondering right from the beginning why Gil and Inez ever got together in the first place, let alone engaged. They are total opposites, and the movie hammers this home rather obnoxiously.
Owen Wilson plays his usual style character, but it fits here. Especially during the nostalgia(flashback? dream?) scenes. He gets to look amazed and have fun. It really is kinda fun to see all these famous people pop up on screen. Picasso! Hemingway! And others, but I won't spoil them all.
The movie never explains exactly what happens at midnight in Paris. Obviously, it was very real for Gil, but as the viewer we are left wondering. The message is crystal clear , though. Live for the now, not for a bygone era that was supposedly better.
Overall, I liked this movie, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It's simply about a man finding himself in the backdrop of an amazing city.

[CastNuri]

Saw "The Muppets Movie" today! I thought it was really fun. I'm not a huge fan of them but the cameos were delightful, the tunes were catchy and the jokes made me giggle. :D

RE: The Help. I can understand why people don't take its connotations on African American issues seriously; I don't think that's what it tries to do. It's trying to convey feeling in regards to a particular form of relation between the two races. 

[GrimReality]

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 - I don't think I need to say much here. It was pretty much just as bad as expected. Bella still looks completely stoned and bored all the time. Edward is still spouting ridiculous lines. We still have totally silly looking wolves that want to eat vampires for some reason. You'd think they would have improved the CG by now, but the wolves still don't look that good. I just don't understand why they didn't go with traditional werewolves. This is especially ridiculous during the scene where the wolves are "talking" to each other. SO laughable!
Plus, the wedding stuff in the beginning went on way too damn long. Considering neither Nan or I have any interest in all that nonsense, this was torture.
This was just an all around bad movie. And yet I'm sure we will watch the last one just to bookend the abuse. Sadistic, I am.

[CastNuri]

You'd think they would have improved the CG by now, but the wolves still don't look that good. I just don't understand why they didn't go with traditional werewolves. This is especially ridiculous during the scene where the wolves are "talking" to each other. SO laughable!

I'm ashamed of myself for knowing this but that's because (coded just in case):

Code:

They aren't supposed to be werewolves. It's revealed in the last half of the final book that although they consider themselves to be werewolves, they're actually spirit wolves. Some kind of native american concept where the tribe takes on the form of an animal spirit; so in their case it's a wolf (could have easily been bear or lion or whatever).

I actually just saw BD: Part One last night too. Eh. Much like the books, none of the movies are particularly good. But I'll prolly see the last film as well. :P

[Yoda]

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 - I don't think I need to say much here. It was pretty much just as bad as expected. Bella still looks completely stoned and bored all the time. Edward is still spouting ridiculous lines. We still have totally silly looking wolves that want to eat vampires for some reason. You'd think they would have improved the CG by now, but the wolves still don't look that good. I just don't understand why they didn't go with traditional werewolves. This is especially ridiculous during the scene where the wolves are "talking" to each other. SO laughable!
Plus, the wedding stuff in the beginning went on way too damn long. Considering neither Nan or I have any interest in all that nonsense, this was torture.
This was just an all around bad movie. And yet I'm sure we will watch the last one just to bookend the abuse. Sadistic, I am.

The wolves talking to each other was so hilarious I couldn't believe it

[Yoda]

The Interrupters didn't get nominated for best documentary? Fuck that shit long and hard.

That's easily one of the most power and eye opening docs I've ever seen. Probably because nobody wants to admit how fucked up inner city life is in America.

If you haven't seen it, change that!

[Dice]

A lot of movies got snubbed...

[Yoda]

And usually I don't give a damn. But for some reason this time I do.

Seriously though, I can't recommend that with enough gusto

[Lard]

Robocop.

I like the part where the guy gets covered in toxic waste and mutated. Then a car hits him and he literally explodes into mush.

[Esper_Crusader]

Robocop is awesome. I hear that a remake is in the works which means there's a 75% chance that they'll destroy another classic:/.  I watched Priest last night. Pretty much middle of the road but they could certainly expand the universe if they so chose.