Spilled Popcorn and Sticky Floors: The Movie Discussion Thread

[CEValkyrie]

Watched Saw III last night. Saw III was much more brutal than Saw II. It had some background info from Saw that was interesting and another pretty good ending.

I'd rate.
1. Saw
2. Saw III
3. Saw II

[CEValkyrie]

Jackass: Number Two
In the second film based on the infamous MTV series of the same name, Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera and the rest of the gang continue to shun dignity and embrace danger in a series of idiotic feats. As always, the gross-out factor is high in stunts involving horse semen, a fake beard made out of pubic hair and more as the crew travels to India in this Jeff Tremaine-directed sequel.

I did not think they could go any farther with their pranks and craziness. They stepped it up about 100 notches! Some crazy shite in this one.

[Jon Brakel]

I saw the first Jackass and Jackass number two in the theatres and my sides hurt the next day from laughing.

I watched Spy Game recently on DVD. It's from 1991 with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Still a good flick. Still worth the Netflix selection.

[Mukey]

Saw "The Illusionist" this weekend, with Ed Norton & Jessica Biel. Pretty decent magician flick, but I think I prefer "The Prestige" over this one. They came out at about the same time, but The Prestige does a better job of keeping things a mystery. I saw the ending to this one coming, but The Prestige kept me guessing. Overall worth a rental.

[Bruce Brakel]

We saw Meet the Robinsons in 3D last weekend.  If you are going to see it, definitely see the 3D version.  They did not do as much with the 3D as the Disney World attractions "Muppets in 3D" or "Honey I Shrunk the Audience in 3D," but the 3D was pretty cool.  It was the best part of the movie, I think.  But they missed a lot of opportunities to work the 3D a little better and use more of the theatre space.  I'll have to consult on the next one.   

The movie itself was only so-so.  Parts of it were funny but the plot resolution and the treatment of the time paradoxes were very weak.  Walt Disney himself would have liked it.  The movie was built around a couple of his personal mottos and reflected his optimism, humanism and morality. There was nothing offensive in it if none of that is offensive. 

They used the grey polarized lenses, not the red and blue, or whatever the colored lenses are.  Jon wanted to know that. 

Anyway, if you have kids who want to see it, its G-rated fun and the 3D will keep you awake.  Oh, one other thing, when they got to the credits its like they ran out of money or time for much in 3D effects.  But if you're only there for the 3D, you might as well stick around until the absolute very end, because there is one last 3D effect on the very end of the credits. 

[Chainmeister]

Saw "The Illusionist" this weekend, with Ed Norton & Jessica Biel. Pretty decent magician flick, but I think I prefer "The Prestige" over this one. They came out at about the same time, but The Prestige does a better job of keeping things a mystery. I saw the ending to this one coming, but The Prestige kept me guessing. Overall worth a rental.

Thanks for the rec.  I want to see the Prestige.  I thought the Illusionist was worth a rental but not great.  I like Ed Norton and Jessica Biel...well does it really matter? I thought the best part of the Illusionist was the inspector played by Paul Giamatti.  His complex european time period cop reminded me of Geoffrey Rush who was amazing as the cop in Les Miserables.

[Jon Brakel]

We saw the Last Mimsy last week. I liked it. In mathmatical phrase it would look like this:

(1/2 * ET) + (1/2 * 1/Alice in Wonderland) = The Last Mimsy

It is not as good as ET if you first saw ET in the theatres. I'd give it a B-.

Becky and I saw Reign Over Me last weekend. I liked this also although I wouldn't give it a wide recommendation. This is the kind of movie that not everyone will appreciate. I thought Adam Sandler did a good job of playing mental illness by way of heart break fairly well. He did not overplay it. The movie was also quite funny for the first 3/4. The sad part kind of dragged a bit and was a touch convoluted but the payoff was good if you like that sort of thing. I give it a B+.

[tacimala]

I actually just saw The Prestige the other day on my flight home from Europe. Worth the watch and it was cool to see everything come together at the end. I also saw Stranger Than Fiction and Deja Vu on the flight too. Both are worth the watch too. Will Ferrell is always funny but this one was a little outside his normal role so it was cool to see. Deja Vu definitely got you thinking and had a fairly good plot line.

[Mukey]

Not a movie, but a great series is "Hu$tle"

BBC Program about a group of grifters. Stylishly shot & the grifting angle keeps twists coming. I'm about to finish season 1 tonight & theng et the rest of them. Worth a look.

[mirth]

saw blood diamond the other day. pretty good film, decent moral struggles & whatnot. van de kaap is obviously a pseudonym for de beers... film ran maybe 10-15 minutes too long imo.

[Tom McManus]

saw blood diamond the other day. pretty good film, decent moral struggles & whatnot. van de kaap is obviously a pseudonym for de beers... film ran maybe 10-15 minutes too long imo.

I agree with the comment about the length.  One ending per film please, I think the record for endings has to be the last chapter of Lord of the Rings.

[Mukey]

"The Venture Brothers" series is gold. If anyone remembers Johnny Quest, this is a parody of that, done really well & it makes me laugh out loud every episode.

[SIUFrolf]

I just got "Home Moviez" 1st season, Man I wish they kept making them, HILARIOUS!!!!one of the best adult swim cartoons out there until they stopped making new ones.

[Chainmeister]

My wife and I saw the movie Once yesterday after a recommendation from a friend.  This was one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen in a long time.  The movie is really an ode to music.  it is about the love of music- hearing it, performing it, creating it.  The movie is very much about the process. 

Once is an Irish movie.  The star is Glen Hanserd, lead singer of the Irish band, The Frames.  He was in the  movie The Commitments which came out in the early 90's.  That was another Irish movie about regular folks making music from and for the heart. Once begins with him singing a powerful ballad on a streetcorner with his guitar case open so passersby can throw in their change.  He chases down a guy who steals the case and catches him.  he eventually meets a woman who helps him write and create music.  I will not tell much more of the story.  its not really very plot driven so there is not  much to give away.  The character has no name and is listed as "boy" in the credits.  the girl is, of course, "girl". The music has a feel of Van Morrison or Sinead O'Connor and other emotional Irish singer/songwriters. The guitar he plays has a hole  in it.  Its a pretty beat instrument.  The girl plays piano but doesn't own one. She cannot afford a piano. She practices at a music store whre the clerk lets her play for an hour while the store is closed for lunch.

There is a scene after a long recording session where the players in a band go to a beach to decompress and throw a frisbee.

[Jon Brakel]

My wife and I saw the movie Once yesterday after a recommendation from a friend. 

OK, so you've seen the movie one time, but what's the name of the movie? Are you just trying to hold us in suspense? 

[Chainmeister]

My wife and I saw the movie Once yesterday after a recommendation from a friend. 

OK, so you've seen the movie one time, but what's the name of the movie? Are you just trying to hold us in suspense? 

What's on second. I saw that one twice.  Of course, if it was a Spanish language film I might have seen it eleven times.

[Mukey]

Saw Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix in IMAX 3D. Decent translation of the book, couldn't have everything or it'd be Lord of the Rings length. I was expecting the 3D to be much better than when I was a kid, but it still looked like a really large pop-up book. Thankfully the 3D was only for the last 20 minutes, but you still had to wear glasses.

Worth 1st run money, but skip the IMAX 3D.

[Jon Brakel]

Where did you see it? I thought the 3D was great! Not quite as good as Ghosts of the Abyss but pretty good. The breaking glass was excellent. I think they didn't want to do a bunch of stunt angles so if anything it was a little more subtle than a movie that is filmed exclusively for 3D.

HPOotP uses the polarizing glasses for 3D which is most preferred by viewers because it retains more color than the color filtering 3D technology.

[Mukey]

I saw it at the Seven Bridges Imax in Woodridge. I agree that the glass breaking was cool, but the other effects I coulda done without. I think I would've enjoyed it more without the funky glasses on my head for the last 20 mintes.

[Myk]

I can't believe no one is talking about Transformers.  That movie was amazing!!!  Okay, the story line was pretty weak, but the Transformers were very impressive.  I've seen it three times already!!