What was the last movie you watched?

[BC_chick]

I saw Frozen 3D and it was amazing. Disney did a great job on this movie. There are feminist undertones AND hunky characters (bravo Disney) as well as a very powerful psychological message. Not to mention the amazing 3D animation.

I bawled for the better half of the 108 minutes but then again, I've been known to cry at commercials. Thank god for 3D glasses.

With or without kids, it's a great movie. There's a lot of Oscar buzz already.

[Moonlight Graham]

I saw Frozen 3D and it was amazing.

With or without kids, it's a great movie. There's a lot of Oscar buzz already.

Ive heard good things, I'll have to check it out.

[Moonlight Graham]

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - 7/10

Not as good as the first flick. It still freaks me out that there the main character children in this movie are decapitating people and (like the last movie) otherwise murdering lots of people during a huge war...that they don't need to be a part of. The books are old so it's a bit understandable but still very odd.

[overthere]

Back to the OP, movies seen recently..... I don't bother with listing those seen on TV, these are on at theaters now:

Hunger Games: this series is derived from books aimed at a juvenile market and the first one kind of failed to move it out of that target audience. I reckon Chapter Two is quite a bit better, and without giving away any plot it does move towards a climax which will come in Chapter Three. The main reason I have any interest really is that it features Jennifer Lawrence, a young actress who has already accomplished a fair bit and has a killer future. Her very best so far is her role in Winters Bone from a couple years ago. I'd say go see this chapeter but only if you've seen the first one.

Dallas Buyers Club: already commented on this, but can repeat that this has at least two Oscar contenders in Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. McConaughey has gone from barechested fluffmeister to some seriously great work in the last couple of years. Killer Joe, Mud, Bernie and Dallas Buyers Club are all examples of some fine work. DBC is directed by a Canadian, Jean -Marc Vallee. Worth seeing.

Philomena: stars Judi Dench and Steven Coogan, a true story of Irish orphans. It's a tearjerker but Dench is so very good at her craft you can overlook the cliched characters and admire a fine actress doing her thing.

To be seen soon: The Hobbit, American Hustle

[Bonam]

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - 7/10

Not as good as the first flick. It still freaks me out that there the main character children in this movie are decapitating people and (like the last movie) otherwise murdering lots of people during a huge war...that they don't need to be a part of. The books are old so it's a bit understandable but still very odd.

Why does it "freak you out"?

[Moonlight Graham]

Why does it "freak you out"?

Because it depicts children leading gruesome battles, like 12 year olds stabbing people with swords, and depicting them in a heroic light in a children's fantasy story, You just have to see it.

[Bonam]

Because it depicts children leading gruesome battles, like 12 year olds stabbing people with swords, and depicting them in a heroic light in a children's fantasy story, You just have to see it.

I have watched and read multiple things of that nature (including Narnia). It does not freak me out. I was wondering why it freaks you out.

[overthere]

Just saw another movie I really liked: Nebraska.

It is set in the Great Plains/small town America and beautifully shot in black and white, a vast Prairie landscape.

If you are still reading this, it's a gentle sort of movie with a central theme about family and aging. If it matters to you, there is no sex, a little swearing, very mild violence. Bruce Dern is terrific, so is Will Forte. There's a good supporting cast of small town winners and losers doing what smalltown people do. Directed by Alexander Payne, who also did Sideways and About Schmidt, a pair of fine movies about ordinary people.

Recommended.

[bleeding heart]

That he did About Schmidt is incentive enough for me to give it a look. A very fine, very poignant and funny movie.

[Mighty AC]

Excellent, I've seen the trailer and was looking forward to watching Nebraska. However, this week I watched the second Hunger Games flick. My wife read the books and thus I have to watch them with her. I drag her to more films than she forces me to see, so I won't complain too much. I assume the author was targeting the teenage, Twilight audience but if you go in with low enough expectations Catching Fire is entertaining.

It has a fair amount of action, decent special effects and tried and true story themes with parallels to our society. The mistreated meek rise up against the decadent rich and powerful, good triumphs over evil, there is a love story and the main character is a strong female. The movie was alright, the popcorn was salty, the floors were sticky and throughout the cinema people were constantly whispering, too loudly, about how the movie differed from the book. All in all, it was a predictable yet satisfying movie experience.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Mighty AC

[DogOnPorch]

Best flick on the Korean War available: Tae Guk Gi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqiAKGPUN7c

[DogOnPorch]

...and the second best. Go Ji-Jeon. My opinion only, of course....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0EluN0kggQ

No worries...both come w/ captions.

[GostHacked]

I have watched and read multiple things of that nature (including Narnia). It does not freak me out. I was wondering why it freaks you out.

Show a boob and then someone will scream 'someone think of the children'.

[Moonlight Graham]

I have watched and read multiple things of that nature (including Narnia). It does not freak me out. I was wondering why it freaks you out.

I think the "wise animals" in Narnia are pretty irresponsible for wanting to arm children and have them lead their own war. I guess i'm not used to watching children killing humans and intelligent talking animals. Children killing other humans does happen in our world and in some necessary situations, but that's pretty horrific, but in Narnia's case it's being presented as fun children's fantasy entertainment.

[GostHacked]

Managed to watch Elysium online (I am sure it was breaking copywrite laws)

I like Matt Damon, he picks some good roles to throw himself into. And I've not seen Jodi Foster looking that fine in a long time.

Stunning visuals, and with the direction of Neill Blomkamp (district 9) made the movie very good. A little predictable on the ending, but overall a really good movie.

[overthere]

The Hobbit: the second installment, which adds nearly 3 hours of film in extending a short book for children into something close to nine hours of high tech story. Purists will oath the Hobbit trilogy as Peter Jackson has added characters and storylines not found in the original. Other than that, the franchise thrives, the movie has plenty of action and the cinemantography is somewhat surreal. If you've invested the time in Lord of The Rings and the first film of the Hobbit, no reason not to see this one.

American Hustler: strong cast (with one exception) with Christian Bale, Amy McAdams, Bradley cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. It's a gritty tale based on Abscam, complete with leisure suits, big hair and disco soundtrack. Three of the four above are excellent in their roles as smalltime grifters, Cooper is again out of his depth. Good movie, won a bunch of awards already and will win some more come Oscars. Recommended.

Saving Mr Banks: this is a gentel Disney movie about... partially... Walt Disney. Strong performances by Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. It is centred on the making of the book Mary Poppins into a movie in the early 60s, with a recurring theme of the life of the author- a testy Brit that Disney has to cajole and charm into the process. There's no swearing, sex or violence so it will have brioad appeal to people who don't like movies much.

It's the kind of film I don't usually like, but it is pretty well done in the end despite a heavy dose of sentimentality.

Inside Llewyn Davis. This is a tough one...... I love the Coen Brothers, they have made several great movies and many good ones, only a couple of duds. I'd rate this as one of the good ones, but not great. It's a study of a player in the New York folk music scene in the early 60s. Every detail rings true and the music (T Bone Burnett) is good. But it is slow and lacks a strong plot. If you like the Coens, go see it. If not.........

[kimmy]

The Hobbit: the second installment, which adds nearly 3 hours of film in extending a short book for children into something close to nine hours of high tech story. Purists will oath the Hobbit trilogy as Peter Jackson has added characters and storylines not found in the original. Other than that, the franchise thrives, the movie has plenty of action and the cinemantography is somewhat surreal. If you've invested the time in Lord of The Rings and the first film of the Hobbit, no reason not to see this one.

I'm not a purist per se, but I devoured a pretty large chunk of the Tolkien source materials back when the Lord Of The Rings movies came out.

One thing that people might not realize is that the storyline about Gandalf and Galadriel teaming up to stomp Sauron's ass out of Dol Guldur is part of the fictional history of Middle Earth, and it's the reason Gandalf keeps leaving Bilbo and the Dwarves to fend for themselves. It's not mentioned in The Hobbit, but it's explained in other Tolkien writings (the appendices of Lord of the Rings? Unfinished Tales? The Silmarillion? Possibly all of them.) Smaug was of great concern to Gandalf, because dragons had been allied to Sauron's former boss Morgoth during the first of the great wars between good and evil in Middle Earth, and Gandalf believed that when Sauron returned, Smaug would honor the old allegiance and aid Sauron. I think it's actually cool that the movies are expanding this part of the story. If they didn't, it would leave the viewer wondering "why does Gandalf keep leaving the guys in the lurch when they need him most? What a jerk!" As well, it should provide a pretty cool scene in the final movie. Galadriel is one of the oldest and most powerful beings in Middle Earth... we'll see why next film.

I didn't mind too much that they expanded the character of Bard and the setting of Laketown. I didn't mind Legolas returning; he's the prince of the elves of Mirkwood, it would have been weird if he wasn't there. I didn't even mind that they created a new character, Tauriel, and I have always liked Evangeline Lilly-- a good Edmonton girl. What I did mind was that they spent so much screen time with Tauriel and Legolas. I really didn't give a crap about their crappy love triangle. I didn't care that Tauriel might have a crush on the dwarf with the mullet. I thought the tacked on quest where she has to seek out the dwarf with the mullet to cure his poisoned wound was completely unnecessary and a gigantic waste of time. And I thought the scene involving chanting and glowing was cringe-inducingly bad.

HOWEVER!

All of that doesn't matter too much, because what this movie has is SMAUG.

Every scene involving dragons in this movie is AWESOME!

Benedict Cumberbatch is a sexy, sexy man. His voice puts chills up my spine even without the electronic effects that turn him into Smaug. Smaug is cunning and psychotic and immense and terrifying and magnificent. He's incredible.

-k

[kimmy]

Hunger Games - Catching Fire: I quite liked this. They showed us more of the fictional setting of Panem and the tactics that "the Capital" employs to keep its territories in line. The main cast is all top-notch, particularly Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, and Woody Harrelson. New for this installment is Jena Malone, who gets to play a character almost as nuts as Jena is in real life. This left me looking forward to the next one.

G.I. Joe - Retaliation: as you'd expect from any movie that says "Based on the line of Hasbro action figures" in the opening credits, this is incredibly loud and incredibly stupid. What can I say? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a guilty pleasure. They blow up London.

Fast And Furious 6: as you'd expect from any movie with "6" in the title, this is incredibly loud and incredibly stupid. What can I say? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a guilty pleasure. They blow up London too. This was actually pretty fun. The car sequences are entertaining, and the ferocious Gina Carano joins the cast so you know you're getting chick-fights. Part of the appeal of this franchise has been the camaraderie of the group of central characters... and with the untimely death of Paul Walker this winter, that puts the future of the franchise in question. "Fast and Furious 7" was in production but I don't know how much they finished.

So that makes 3 times they destroyed London in 2013, vs just 2 for New York City. A surprising upset! Will New York City reclaim the title in 2014, or will London continue to reign supreme? And with a new Godzilla film on the way, will Tokyo be a contender? Or maybe somewhere completely off the board like Moscow or Rio De Janeiro? I'm excited to find out which cities get demolished the most in 2014!

-k

[overthere]

I'm excited to find out which cities get demolished the most in 2014!

I'm guessing Toronto.

The oppressed and humiliated residents will rise in revolt over the evil empire of Clan Ford and demolish the city center. They'll wait until it warms up a bit though, and the carnage will likely coincide with the Leafs annual collapse.

[Michael Hardner]

Inside Llewyn Davis. This is a tough one...... I love the Coen Brothers, they have made several great movies and many good ones, only a couple of duds. I'd rate this as one of the good ones, but not great. It's a study of a player in the New York folk music scene in the early 60s. Every detail rings true and the music (T Bone Burnett) is good. But it is slow and lacks a strong plot. If you like the Coens, go see it. If not.........

I concur. That said, it's still the best film I've seen so far in 2013 - which speaks to the Coens' ability to just make a solid film every time.

I just saw the Wolf of Wall Street. If you had no idea of the excesses of Wall Street, and love to watch 80s debauchery then this film is for you. Really, it's just an overlong peepshow into the lives of the worst douchebags in history (to that point). The objective, presumably, is to moralize. I'm already on board with the viewpoint, so I spent much of the last half of the movie wondering if it was too early to check my watch again...

[bleeding heart]

Sometimes I wonder unhappily if Martin Scosese's star isn't just slightly on the wane. He's good...but he used to be truly great.

[overthere]

Sometimes I wonder unhappily if Martin Scosese's star isn't just slightly on the wane. He's good...but he used to be truly great.

I think he has had a somewhat typical career, but only in the sense that the quality of his stuff has been erratic. If you look at the filmography of most directors and actors with long careers they all pretty much have hits and misses.

He has had some good ones in the last couple of years: Boardwalk Empire, Hugo and the excellent George Harrison documentary. But what is astonishing about Scorcese(aside from some classic movies) is the sheer volume, the guy must work 24/7.

[DogOnPorch]

Boardwalk Empire is sublime.

[bleeding heart]

Overthere, you're certainly right that hits and misses are typical of large bodies of work (not just in film, of course). I haven't seen the Harrison docu. But I was thinking of the Stones concert, Shutter Island....both of which were not too strong, in my view.

On the other hand, The Departed is fairly recent, and it rocked pretty hard, so I certainly wouldn't write him off in the F. F. Coppola school of has-beens just yet.

[overthere]

I don't think Scorcese has had the sharp decline in quality that a director like Woody Allen has had....

Allen now makes romantic fluff and homages to pretty Euro cities. Shocking really. Way too many shitty efforts, I don't bother with him any more.

Scorcese has made several classic movies, films that will be seen for decades. The Departed is one of them even though it is a remake itself.

I haven't seen Wolf of Wall St yet, but will get to it. Friends complain that it is much too long. Maybe having final cut -directors of his stature get it- is not such a good thing sometimes.

Do check out the Harrison doco- Living in the Material World. It is a sympathetic portrait, Scorcese was his friend- but very watchable.