MetaChat - What movies have you seen lately?

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31 December 2009

What movies have you seen lately? →[More:]I watched Extract last night on DVD. It was mildly entertaining. I do love Jason Bateman. I thought the Mila Kunis character was completely unnecessary. They could have left her out (although I do like Mila Kunis, the actress) and it would have been better.

I saw Sherlock Holmes at the theater last week. I'm not sure how I feel about all of the fighting and physical violence. Didn't Sherlock Holmes carry a revolver as a threat? I don't remember him beating people up.

I also saw Up in the Air, which was mildly entertaining as well.

The best movie I saw this week is Marion Bridge. Molly Parker is exceptional. I loved everything about this movie.

Last night I watched Dear Zachary: A letter to a son about his father. It is a horribly sad and disturbing story. I am fascinated by Shirley Turner's mental state. What happens to a person to behave in such a way? And why would her psychiatrist bail her out of jail?

post by: LoriFLA at: 16:19 | 30 comments

Oh shit, Dear Zachary is one of the WORST things I have ever seen. I cried my damn eyes out. I made my husband cry JUST by describing it to him as I blubbered away.
The son and husband go and see films far more than I do, since I lost sight in my left eye two years ago (holy shit, has it been TWO YEARS?!?), big screens cause me eye strain. They both loved Avatar. At home, the husband and I have been completely immersed in Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica.

posted by msali 31 December | 16:37

I also caught Holmes whilst visiting the 'rents over the holiday. I did think it was a bit heavy on the action, but the original stories were pulp and there was often some action (usually at the climax). Holmes is stated as having learned jujutsu, Watson was plenty willing to bring the fisticuffs (he was ex-army) and there was gunplay. The film captured the grittiness of Victorian London far better then any other Holmes interpretation I've seen and I think the takes on the characters was right on. So a fun film and good to see Guy Ritchie back in form ala his earlier films instead of the recent disasters he's been engaged in.

posted by kodama 31 December | 16:41

I liked Up in the Air--it was exactly the sort of low-key, cynical movie I needed to see after watching Avatar.

The 3D in Avatar was pretty cool, but the movie itself was terrible. It's clear that 3D is the future of Hollywood Blockbusters--and I'm scared as hell.

~~Dickensian Batman~~ Sherlock Holmes was okay. Somehow I manage to sleep through about half an hour somewhere in the middle, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. But Downey is great. And it was one of the few Jude Law performance where he wasn't all Jude Lawy, which is a huge improvement.

Hrm...what else? I watched Julia on Netflix--very interesting to see Tilda Swinton playing a character so different from her typical role. But it was a brutal movie.

Gomorrah was good. Sort of like City of God in Italy. I'm used to seeing the touristy side of Italy in movies, so it was cool to see the gritty reality of the poorer cities. The movie itself doesn't provide much background, but it led me to read up on Wikipedia about the Camorra, which is fascinating stuff.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

posted by mullacc 31 December | 16:47

I watched "It Might Get Loud" last night...it was alright. Some cool footage, but I found it pretty slow in parts.

The night before, it was "In the Loop" which I really enjoyed. I've been fighting the urge to end all phone calls with "fuckity bye" since.

Oh...I also finally saw Where the Wild Things Are. I really liked it. The way they blended the actors facial expressions into the CGI of the creatures faces just blew me away. I do so wish I'd seen it on the big screen, but so it goes.

I've not made it to the theater in a few weeks, but I do hope to see Avatar before it's off the big screens too.

posted by richat 31 December | 16:50

We saw "Julie and Julia" on DVD when I was back in Florida. I enjoyed it, despite the whiny Julie character. "Wah, wah, I live in Queens and it sucks"- first of all, if you love food, Queens is the best place in the world to live. And I would KILL SOMEONE for that apartment, so count your blessings.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 31 December | 16:52

In the past month, the movies I can remember watching are:

Julie and Julia - some great cooking tips. Julie's husband kept getting hotter and hotter as the movie went on, did anyone else think so?
Beyond Hypothermia
Sex Drive (I never said I had any taste)
Apocalypto
There Will Be Blood
Revolutionary Road
The most recent Harry Potter - most boring movie evar.
Kill Bill 2

posted by iconomy 31 December | 17:03

Gosh. . .ico. . .Stanley Tucci is hot for you. There must be a glimmer of hope for me yet!

Avatar - Loved it.
An Education
Up in the Air
Brothers Bloom
Bright Star

posted by danf 31 December | 17:12

Bubble-buster: Tucci actually plays Julia's husband, not Julie's.

I'm no iconomy, but I'll chime in: Stanley Tucci is utterly hot. This is doubly true in Julie and Julia, where he and Julia (Streep) are so obviously loving and affectionate and sexual together.

posted by Elsa 31 December | 17:18

Stanley Tucci is very hot. My optician looks exactly like him, which makes him very hot too.

I enjoyed Julia and Julia very much. The last movie I saw at the cinema was Nine, the musical loosely based on Fellini's 8½. I enjoyed it, but Daniel Day-Lewis plays a character who is so repellent, with not one single redeeming feature, that it was hard to empathise with him.

Yesterday I watched Grey Gardens (the documentary) and Grey Gardens (the HBO movie with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange). I'd seen the HBO one on the plane on my last trip to the States, but it was great to see the two movies back to back. Barrymore and Lange are fantastic as the two Edies.

I just watched The House Bunny on TV. That's 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

This weekend I might go and see that new Meryl Streep/Daniel Baldwin movie, It's Complicated, which looks like an enjoyable distraction.

posted by essexjan 31 December | 17:32

We saw "Julie and Julia" on DVD when I was back in Florida. I enjoyed it, despite the whiny Julie character. "Wah, wah, I live in Queens and it sucks"

Julie is exactly the type of snobby Brooklynite you want to keep out of Queens. Once they start realising it's such a cool place to live, they'll all start moving there and ruin it.

posted by essexjan 31 December | 17:34

Broken Embraces
Bright Star
A Serious Man
It's Complicated

For the last (formulaic but enjoyable), I got to go to the premier and the after party which felt like I was living in some kind of movie.

posted by Obscure Reference 31 December | 17:37

Is it because its 2009 that this year has brought us:
District 9
9
Nine
?

(I do hope some people who wanted to see Nine saw 9 instead and vice versa!)

posted by kodama 31 December | 17:50

We saw Sherlock Holmes last night and liked it a lot. It wasn't traditional but a lot of the elements aren't really that far from the books. And, at this point Holmes has been done so much that there wouldn't be much point in doing a totally traditional version of the story. I was interested to see that the Irene character is actually from the books and was from New Jersey. I'll have to go re-read some of the stories now.

Downey is really the actor of our time, I can really watch him do anything. The movie had a lot of joy in it, all the actors seemed to be having a grand time of it.

posted by octothorpe 31 December | 17:51

I just got Alphaville from the library and it was surprisingly entertaining, and because I'm obsessed with Battlestar Galactica too, I couldn't help but theorize that the Alphaville universe was influential on the design of Cylon culture. I also took my kid to Fantastic Mr Fox which passed both the seven year old and thirty five year old entertainment tests.

Also, this is my first comment on MetaChat! Hello Chatterers!

posted by serazin 31 December | 18:18

Hi serazin. Welcome!

posted by danf 31 December | 18:20

Saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus last week and liked it a lot.

Just watched Nacho Libre. A great way to spend the New Year's Eve.

Currently wondering whether I should watch The Irony of Faith, or Enjoy Your Bath!, about to start any minute now on TV. It's a classic Soviet comedy that they traditionally show on New Year's Eve in Russia. Around here, they tend to show it on New Year's Day. But I've seen it before (two or three times) and it runs so long that I'll probably fall asleep half way through, so I'll probably give it a pass.

posted by Daniel Charms 31 December | 18:24

most recent Netflix:

- Perfume, story of a murderer. creeeeeeeepy!!! omg! But good!
- something so utterly forgettable that I've already HEY! forgotten it... I think the mister and I chatted on IM almost the whole time it was on :P
- Memoirs of a Geisha. Meh. Book was wayy better, and on review, the mister agrees.

most recent whatever-we-had-on-the-media-drives, etc...:
- many, many episodes of Top Gear :D
- Shaun of the Dead (we're both shameless Shaun whores)
- some amazing nature showy things... oh yes! the Planet Earth series!
- an old Audrey Hepburn flick whose name is escaping me at the moment (but we both enjoyed it)

The last thing we saw in cinema was Star Trek (the reboot). Plans to see Sherlock and Avatar both, and very soon. We were merely waiting for the holiday dust to settle.

OH SNAP! speaking of movies, the mister's new shiny receiver just showed up on our doorstep! yay new toys!

posted by lonefrontranger 31 December | 18:57

Saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus last week and liked it a lot.

Jealous. Its killing me this hasn't opened wide yet.

posted by kodama 31 December | 19:03

Hi, serazin!

I think Stanley Tucci is uberhot. My husband looks just like him. And my husband is just as sweet as ST was in the movie.

I did mean the other husband though ;)

posted by iconomy 31 December | 19:59

I just recently watched (the original) The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 again for the first time in eons, and it was FANTASTIC. So low-key, so gritty, so stinking of cigarettes and sweat.

posted by BoringPostcards 31 December | 20:04

We saw Sherlock Holmes a couple of days ago, too. I really enjoyed it. Fluffy but reasonably smart.

posted by gaspode 31 December | 20:52

Hm, just finished Alien and Aliens. I was on a Ridley Scott kick having finally opened my Blade Runner 4-disc collection. Also watched Thelma & Louise.

Other stuff: Is Paris Burning?, To Catch a Thief, pretty random library finds. Redboxed Star Trek a month ago, and Public Enemies last week.

posted by dhartung 31 December | 20:59

On a recent binge I also saw Bad Santa (my favorite Xmas movie), Audition, and Inglourious Basterds, all of which are highly recommended.

posted by BoringPostcards 31 December | 21:02

after not seeing any movies since last spring, ive been doing a movie blitz and i havent seen anything thats sucked so far . in fact most has been pretty decent .

the best so far has been 'Fantastic Mr Fox"

The good were 'Avatar' , 'Up In The Air' and 'Invictus'

The OK were 'Where The Wild Things Are', 'The Hangover'and 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Pernassis'

i've rented 'Star Trek' & 'Inglourious Basterds' for tomorrow as i intend to be a complete bum all day

posted by rollick 31 December | 21:47

So what'd you think of Is Paris Burning, dhartung?

posted by serazin 31 December | 23:49

The last two films we watched were Best in Show (clip; clip), and Wordplay (documentary; clip) - two nerdly geekout extravaganzas.

posted by taz 01 January | 02:30

I saw It's Complicated on Christmas. It was fun, but I felt manipulated. Meryl's life in the movie is too perfect - successful business that seems to require little effort, beautiful home and big vegetable garden that also maintain themselves, close friends, wonderful children, perfect clothes. She's going to renovate the house so she can have the perfect kitchen she's always wanted, although the kitchen is by far nicer than my just-renovated kitchen, and it made me dislike the character a fair amount. I ended just enjoying the ride; Streep is a great actress and always fun to watch, and Alec Baldwin did a wonderful job. But it's sort of a Lifetime movie with better production values.

posted by theora55 01 January | 11:19

Netflix instant streaming is awesome. I love watching movies on my laptop. I feel like I'm in a little movie cave.

I read the same thing about It's Complicated, theora. I read one review that said Meryl's character would never able to afford her Santa Barbara digs in real life. I do love Meryl Streep. I just downloaded Adaptation on demand. She is mesmerizing in that movie.

posted by LoriFLA 01 January | 11:37

All rented for the holidays:

Up
Star Trek (from this summer)
The Hangover

All mildly recommended, especially Star Trek, if you are familiar with the original TV series. In a few minutes is "Taken."

posted by rainbaby 01 January | 19:21

I read one review that said Meryl's character would never able to afford her Santa Barbara digs in real life.

That always strikes me about movies set in London - characters leading 'ordinary' lives who are living in cosy little mews cottages that'd set them back £3 million, or huge flats with views of the Thames.

posted by essexjan 02 January | 02:39

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