LONE STAR In a movie filled with great character acting, Chris Cooper steals the show as a laconic border town sheriff living under the shadow of his father. John Sayles constructs the puzzle box film around a murder mystery, but the murder's really window dressing for a story about racial tensions, secrets, fathers and sons, reinterpreting history (public and private), and the ways people change over time. Every scene's watchable and every character has a story to tell. Meanders a touch, and connecting its multiple threads requires the occasional contrivance, but there's not much I'd want to change. It's kind of nice to see a middle-aged romance in the middle of it all - a break from Hollywood's youth obsession - and the soundtrack is also a great mixture of old school country, raucus blues, and Tejano.
5/5
BATMAN RETURNS This one was a random rewatch, and I'll have to dump one of my 90s picks to accomodate it. I got the yen to rewatch it after some inspired discussion of it in a Benbo thread, but it turns out the discussion was more interesting than the movie - which remains an unfocused mess with Batman almost an incidental character.
holyfuckingzomgepicgoddamn, the FOUR PART (4!) conclusion to Avatar was mind blowing. Easily in the top 3 or 5 things I have EVER seen on television. It brought me to tears more than once.
It was 2 hours long, and I watched in a single sitting with popcorn. That kinda counts as a movie right?
I watched Did You Hear About the Morgans with my parents tonight. It's about a separated big-city couple played by Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker who witness a murder and are forced to go into hiding in small town cowboy Wyoming, where of course they fall back in love and learn to appreciate the simple life. It wasn't funny, and about 30 minutes in they had been acting so dumb that I thought they deserved to be killed by the assassin hunting them. 1/5.
I'm going to play catch-up here, as I've watched movies over the last few weeks and just haven't posted about them.
I'm lazy.
And it's been a bit busy.
Jennifer's Body - Not as bad as I thought it would be even with Megan Fox playing the so called lead. Some humorous moments due to the Diablo Cody script. Overall I'd give it a 3/5
Dear John - Watched it with my Mom and I about wanted to scream at it's stupidity and craptastic Nicholas Sparks origins. 1/5
Wanted - A rewatch but it was on and I had nothing else better to do. Not a great film, but there are some okay scenes. 2/5
Did You Hear About the Morgans - I too watched this shining example of what passes as romantic comedies these days. Boring and while I didn't have the volatile reaction that Dan did, I too thought it was crappy. And poor Sam Elliot slums in it too. 1/5
Patriot Games - Was in Harrison Ford mode and found this on some on demand channel at my sisters. Still holds up for me, though after the girl said Darlin', I couldn't help imagine most of the other characters saying after their lines. Good times. 4/5
Mummy 3 Curse of the Dragon Whatchamacallit - A re-watch...And I sure wish that I hadn't. I love the first Mummy, half enjoy the second one with the pygmies and the other crap...And I remember enjoying this one in theaters. Guess I watched it with rose colored glasses or something. Really sucked. 2/5
Watched the Swedish crime thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo without knowing anything about it other than "has good buzz." It was interesting. Sometimes really interesting, especially the "girl" herself, though for a semi-arthouse film it was sometimes a pretty conventional thriller, too. Generally recommended, and you should go in knowing as little about it as possible, even though it's not a "twist" movie. Only thing to know is that that subject matter's quite dark.
Interesting to know about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo... I had written both the movie and the book off as crap due to it's smashing success. Lol/ serious.
It's available on Netflix on-demand, so it's pretty easy to check out, Sara. Slightly slow start, but I expect you'd know within half an hour if it's worth ya time.
My sister (who's pretty much a mainstream movie chick) raved about it and I just saw the Ebert gave it four stars out of four. I think they were being generous, but sometimes it's just cool to see a freaky sex/murder movie in Swedish, y'know?
The Goods - Stupid comedy that sometimes walked the line between bad and good. Ultimately, I found it funny with some great lines and characters.
Star Trek - Rewatched mainly to see if I agreed with Randy and Dave's annoyance with the film. Sadly, I still have to disagree with them. I liked it, even though its villain was lame (though I read the prequel comic which did explain a lot, so in my mind, that was in the film). I like the flashiness of it too. I don't know...Still really enjoyed it.
Big Lebowski - LOVE this movie. Jeff Bridges cracks me up and really, the entire story is so originally awesome.
Fifth Element - Another re-visit, but it's worth checking out every once in awhile. Nice action, quirky, great set design, interesting music, and Bruce Willis.
Hancock - Was on television and I simply found myself watching it again. I don't think it's a fantastic movie or anything, but it's got a quality about it, and I think the story takes some good twists and turns that aren't exactly predictable.
The Mighty Ducks - Couldn't sleep and found myself watching this even though the remote was near my hand and I have an entire DVR's worth of tv to watch. Overall, it's a dumb movie, but I remember this was the first soundtrack (and CD for that matter) that I ever bought and I had completely forgotten that it was a young Joshua Jackson (who has gone on to do the awesome Fringe) who starred in it.
LONE STAR
ReplyDeleteIn a movie filled with great character acting, Chris Cooper steals the show as a laconic border town sheriff living under the shadow of his father. John Sayles constructs the puzzle box film around a murder mystery, but the murder's really window dressing for a story about racial tensions, secrets, fathers and sons, reinterpreting history (public and private), and the ways people change over time. Every scene's watchable and every character has a story to tell. Meanders a touch, and connecting its multiple threads requires the occasional contrivance, but there's not much I'd want to change. It's kind of nice to see a middle-aged romance in the middle of it all - a break from Hollywood's youth obsession - and the soundtrack is also a great mixture of old school country, raucus blues, and Tejano.
5/5
BATMAN RETURNS
This one was a random rewatch, and I'll have to dump one of my 90s picks to accomodate it. I got the yen to rewatch it after some inspired discussion of it in a Benbo thread, but it turns out the discussion was more interesting than the movie - which remains an unfocused mess with Batman almost an incidental character.
2/5
holyfuckingzomgepicgoddamn, the FOUR PART (4!) conclusion to Avatar was mind blowing. Easily in the top 3 or 5 things I have EVER seen on television. It brought me to tears more than once.
ReplyDeleteIt was 2 hours long, and I watched in a single sitting with popcorn. That kinda counts as a movie right?
If Avatar counts as a movie, I've now finished the first 20 episode season and I'm really digging it and looking forward to more. Also...
ReplyDeleteDirty Rotten Scoundrels - Rewatched this one on a whim, and it remains very funny. Steve Martin, Michael Caine as dueling con men in Europe. 4/5
I watched Did You Hear About the Morgans with my parents tonight. It's about a separated big-city couple played by Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker who witness a murder and are forced to go into hiding in small town cowboy Wyoming, where of course they fall back in love and learn to appreciate the simple life. It wasn't funny, and about 30 minutes in they had been acting so dumb that I thought they deserved to be killed by the assassin hunting them. 1/5.
ReplyDeleteSo:
ReplyDeleteDO see Avatar.
DO NOT see Did You Hear About the Morgans.
I'm going to play catch-up here, as I've watched movies over the last few weeks and just haven't posted about them.
ReplyDeleteI'm lazy.
And it's been a bit busy.
Jennifer's Body - Not as bad as I thought it would be even with Megan Fox playing the so called lead. Some humorous moments due to the Diablo Cody script. Overall I'd give it a 3/5
Dear John - Watched it with my Mom and I about wanted to scream at it's stupidity and craptastic Nicholas Sparks origins. 1/5
Wanted - A rewatch but it was on and I had nothing else better to do. Not a great film, but there are some okay scenes. 2/5
Did You Hear About the Morgans - I too watched this shining example of what passes as romantic comedies these days. Boring and while I didn't have the volatile reaction that Dan did, I too thought it was crappy. And poor Sam Elliot slums in it too. 1/5
Patriot Games - Was in Harrison Ford mode and found this on some on demand channel at my sisters. Still holds up for me, though after the girl said Darlin', I couldn't help imagine most of the other characters saying after their lines. Good times. 4/5
Mummy 3 Curse of the Dragon Whatchamacallit - A re-watch...And I sure wish that I hadn't. I love the first Mummy, half enjoy the second one with the pygmies and the other crap...And I remember enjoying this one in theaters. Guess I watched it with rose colored glasses or something. Really sucked. 2/5
Watched the Swedish crime thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo without knowing anything about it other than "has good buzz." It was interesting. Sometimes really interesting, especially the "girl" herself, though for a semi-arthouse film it was sometimes a pretty conventional thriller, too. Generally recommended, and you should go in knowing as little about it as possible, even though it's not a "twist" movie. Only thing to know is that that subject matter's quite dark.
ReplyDelete3/5 (maybe 4/5; still making up my mind)
Interesting to know about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo... I had written both the movie and the book off as crap due to it's smashing success. Lol/ serious.
ReplyDeleteIt's available on Netflix on-demand, so it's pretty easy to check out, Sara. Slightly slow start, but I expect you'd know within half an hour if it's worth ya time.
ReplyDeleteMy sister (who's pretty much a mainstream movie chick) raved about it and I just saw the Ebert gave it four stars out of four. I think they were being generous, but sometimes it's just cool to see a freaky sex/murder movie in Swedish, y'know?
A few more movies to talk about...
ReplyDeleteThe Goods - Stupid comedy that sometimes walked the line between bad and good. Ultimately, I found it funny with some great lines and characters.
Star Trek - Rewatched mainly to see if I agreed with Randy and Dave's annoyance with the film. Sadly, I still have to disagree with them. I liked it, even though its villain was lame (though I read the prequel comic which did explain a lot, so in my mind, that was in the film). I like the flashiness of it too. I don't know...Still really enjoyed it.
Big Lebowski - LOVE this movie. Jeff Bridges cracks me up and really, the entire story is so originally awesome.
Fifth Element - Another re-visit, but it's worth checking out every once in awhile. Nice action, quirky, great set design, interesting music, and Bruce Willis.
Hancock - Was on television and I simply found myself watching it again. I don't think it's a fantastic movie or anything, but it's got a quality about it, and I think the story takes some good twists and turns that aren't exactly predictable.
The Mighty Ducks - Couldn't sleep and found myself watching this even though the remote was near my hand and I have an entire DVR's worth of tv to watch. Overall, it's a dumb movie, but I remember this was the first soundtrack (and CD for that matter) that I ever bought and I had completely forgotten that it was a young Joshua Jackson (who has gone on to do the awesome Fringe) who starred in it.