I actually didn't see a single movie this month - I've been opting for TV shows and playing a video game with the Milkmaid.
What have you seen?
69 thoughts on “Third Monday Movie Day”
I watched the Battlestar Galactica opening movie months ago - maybe even a year now - and finally picked it up again a week or so ago. I'm loving it. A few casting choices are unfortunate as the show opted for looks over talent, but the writing is excellent.
I've been watching it as well. I'm also greatly enjoying it. It took me a while before I realized the actor that played the president also played the woman who marries Kevin Costner's character in "Dances With Wolves." I think her name was "Stands With a Fist." I think she also played the president's wife in "Independence Day."
i forget her name, but she was awesome in sneakers (which is an excellent movie, by the way).
Mary McDonnell -- yes, great in Sneakers
She is fantastic at jamming all sorts of emotion into the most subtle moments, but never hamming it up. She commands attention every time she's on screen.
Trying to remember if she was in Grand Canyon as well.
She was. I've never seen it, but I can see the cover of the movie in my head. I think she's paired with Kevin Kline? Maybe it's Steve Martin. One of those two.
Kevin Kline, if I remember, but Mary-Louise Parker sticks in my mind more, for some reason 😉
I look forward to your updates on this, as I watched the entire series over the spring and summer.
I think I'm seven episodes in, and the worst I can come up with is a bit of the casting. It's exciting and well-paced, and there are minor characters that are better developed than the leads in other shows.
So far, so good.
I thought some of the actors who started out terrible got a fair amount better as the series went on. Some of them didn't, but hey, we can't all have nice things.
This was my experience as well.
also describes Star Trek: The Next Generation, wrapping back a few days to Beau.
I watched Gamera and Lunopolis. Fortunately, it was the MST3K version of the first one. Unfortunately, it was not the MST3K version of the second.
I suppose if they count, I've watched a lot of MST3K over the last month (though I'd seen all of it before). I'm on a Gamera kick as well. They're so goofy.
Mrs. SoCal is gone to a teacher's convention, so I let the boys pick a movie to watch during dinner last night. Oy. They of course pick it based on the picture they see on Netflix. They chose "Cool Dog" because the title character looks like our own dog. Wow was that bad. Terrible acting, obvious writing with many plot holes and way too many stupid tricks by the dog, including driving a car and playing a piano. The "bad guys" in the movie were cartoonish. It was just amazing how bad this movie was.
Cool Dog rates an impressive 3.5 out of 10 on IMDb. Ugh. The lead, Michael Pare, apparently studied with genius acting instructor Uta Hagen in the '80s. They can't all be winners, I guess.
I rewatched Scary Movie on WGN a couple weeks back in a bout of insomnia. At least half of the decent gags were cut out, in addition to not being as funny as I remember (likely since I'm not 17 anymore).
Other than that I've basically been watching TV. I've been keeping up on The Walking Dead though I have a lot of issues with the pacing and characters. I'm an episode or two behind now, so maybe it gets better? I haven't been loving it. If nothing else, it makes me interested in reading the graphic novel.
I've been watching fansubs of the anime Mawaru Penguin Drum since it's been airing in Japan and it's probably the best anime I've seen in... I don't know, maybe ever? It's completely incredible. It's a very strange story about destiny, a very diverse group of characters whose lives all intersect because of one event (which I don't want to spoil in the off chance someone here goes and watches it since it's a pretty great reveal), and penguins. I really hope it gets licensed in the US soon because I must own this show. Also, it'll be easier for people to watch and people really should watch it.
I bolstered my Blu-Ray collection with 8 Criterion Collection releases (Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors, 8½, Blow Out, Yi Yi, The Sweet Smell of Success, The Rules of the Game, Kuroneko, and Broadcast News) last week thanks to Barnes & Noble's 50% off sale. I'm hoping I have a lot of time to watch them in December.
I think I might be done with The Walking Dead. The second season's opener was dynamite, but the show's been spinning wheels since (I fell a couple behind as well, but I'm starting to doubt that it matters). There are only three characters that the show respects enough to develop, and between them there's maybe half of one good actor.
Yeah, this is pretty much it. I guess that a lot of the characterization deviates quite a bit from the source material, so I may just save myself the time & effort and read the comics instead.
There's really nothing else running right now that I watch save (the absolutely fantastic) Bored to Death, so I may keep chugging along just because. Or maybe I'll just finally work on Homicide or finish Deadwood.
I'm not watching much scripted drama that's on right now either, which is about all that keeps it on my radar. I keep thinking the show should be good, and I keep plugging away at it. It's had just enough good episodes that it's already fooled me twice.
Right now it's all Battlestar, Twin Peaks (I've been stalled - I'm about to the point where the show starts losing direction and starting and stopping storylines willy-nilly), Mad Men (stalled there too, for whatever reason) and Kids in the Hall, of which I saw maybe a third when it was originally on.
I have this weird thing where I'll decide not to watch a movie because I can knock out an episode of something faster, but then I'll watch five episodes in a row, in a span where I could have seen two movies. Maybe I just prefer the long-form storytelling.
Have you gotten to Miguel Ferrer's arrival on Twin Peaks? Aw, man...
I've seen the first half of it twice now, actually, and yeah, he first shows up no later than the sixth or seventh episode. I love that character (and actor).
I always opt for TV dramas over movies, not sure why, but I think it is that I also prefer the long form story telling.
That reminds me, I knocked out all of Season 1 & 2 of Louie last month. What a great show. My crush on Pamela Adlon is immense, she's my favorite part of Californication and she's awesome on Louie.
Yeah, Louie's the other one I'm watching, which I forgot to mention. Oh, and this ridiculous anime High School of the Dead, an exploitative and stupid zombie show that's still, all things considered, more fun than The Walking Dead.
I haven't given up yet, but last night's episode wasn't strong. Apparently they are rotating directors. Perhaps that's why it feels so uneven.
Rotating directors is pretty common in TV because of how big of a job directing is. Rotating head writers is a much bigger sin, and that's essentially what they did in the first season by having no writing team. I think they fixed that, but for some reason, every dangling story from the first season is still dangling, and the one story they've presented this season is moving like molasses.
Makes sense but I'm plumb out of ideas.
Yeah, I finally ran out of reasons to give it a pass, and I think I'm moving on. The only thing making me fight it at this point is my weird obsession with seeing shows through until the end, even if I can't stand them. I think I've given up on just one show in the last five years or so. The upside is I never start one in the first place unless I'm pretty sure about it.
i flew through the first season, which jane loved to my surprise. hope the 2nd one shows up on netflix soon.
I know I checked out more from the library, but I can't remember them all right now.
The Social Network Reminds me of Gilmore Girls in that the machinegun chatter gave me a headache. Interesting from a "historical" perspective.
Bubba Ho-tep Typical B-movie fare, but I HAD to see it. Bruce Campbell, you know.
The Hereafter Ugh. It went nowhere from three directions, and took forever to get there.
A&E's Horatio Hornblower "mini-series" (8 stand-alone "movies") Fine acting by Ioan Gruffudd et. al. Nice supplement to my Master & Commander fix.
argh, i've been meaning to watch bubba ho-tep for a long time now...
As have I. I may even own it, or maybe had it borrowed for some time.
Hereafter. Ugh is right.
I remember a couple other films I'd seen:
Cinema Paradiso Very fine Italian film about a man who grew up as a film projector operator and the young boy he influences in the same occupation. Pretty long running time, but the (director's cut) ending was satisfying in a non-Hollywood way.
The Book of Eli A cross between Damnation Alley and Farenheit 451; things went along nicely until it focused down to Oldman's and Washington's characters, then it became typical post-apocalyptic fare.
Last week we screened Apocalypse Now, which I have seen four or so times now, for the Vietnam class. While there are some nice elements - excellent cinematography, a couple of great character roles for Duvall and Hopper - I came away from this viewing hating the film more than ever. It's just a hot mess, and helped create and feed some pretty awful cliches about Vietnam veterans.
Mrs. Hayes and I watched Papillon at home last weekend. I last saw it when I was in high school, and wasn't disappointed at all with how it has stood up over time. A couple weeks before that we watched the original (and only, as far as I'm concerned) Thomas Crown Affair, which was also pretty enjoyable. Despite the pretty dated technology, the film doesn't feel like a dinosaur, which is a credit to the dynamic between the characters and the gradual ratcheting up of the suspense in the story. Two very different roles for McQueen between those films, although his personal charm does translate between them. I might watch The Sand Pebbles soon just to keep fresh on his work.
I haven't seen either Apocalypse Now or Papillon yet, but my father would agree with your assessment.
The Sand Pebbles is always worth watching.
Saw 50/50 last nite. That was a pretty good movie. The lead actor (the 3rd Rock kid) did a really fantastic job in a challenging role. The young woman from Up in the Air did a nice job too. Moss would like to see her broaden her roles a bit though -- her role here had a lot in common with her role in Up in the Air.
Possibly the best movie that Moss has seen of all the movies released this year.
Last weekend, Moss saw J. Edgar. Despite a very good performance by Leo, this movie was underwhelming. With apologies to Clint, it was too much Bridges of Madison County and not enough Gran Torino.
Buried: I love one-room movies. I liked this one fine, and I honsetly can't articulate anything I disliked about it, but I wasn't as affected by the claustrophobia or other emotional moments as I thought it would be.
Last House on the Left: Wes Craven's first film certainly has some positive elements. It rarely goes for shock value or excessive gore, so in that sense, the violence is incredibly disturbing. But terrible acting, a bizarre score that is opposite the mood of the movie (also by the guy who wrote Hound Dog), and a pointless comedy relief subplot w/ two bumbling cops ruined it for me.
Crazy, Stupid, Love: I'm not sure if this movie figured out if it was lampooning romantic comedies or trying to outdo them. Nothing particularly memorable, but some good acting and some great comedic timing make it a relatively enjoyable watch. I'll see anything with Emma Stone.
Futurama: Halfway through the movies. I'll just say that they're both well-written and hilarious, but both start to feel long after 40 minutes or so.
I'll see anything with Emma Stone.
I feel that way about her too, but I've yet to see her in anything I truly love. Superbad is still my favorite thing I've seen her in, and I only sorta liked that. The House Bunny is wretched, which is doubly unfortunate because I really like Anna Faris (who, like Stone, is pretty good but either has terrible taste in scripts or a terrible agent).
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. If you haven't seen it, that Snoopy is a hoot.
My kids are watching that constantly right now. I got the Charlie Brown Blu-Ray collection for the Milkmaid last Christmas, and the girls are just recently really getting into it.
This reminds me: my IA bro has a couple framed Peanuts comics in his house, which came with the house when he bought it (he was caretaker for an old couple for many years; they had no relatives). Anyway, a friend saw them and said they should be appraised -- they knew they were originals, as the older gentleman who had owned the house had worked in the same building as Charles Shultz.
Anyway, they were sold to the woman who played had Lucy on Broadway...for $40,000! Turns out one of them was one of only 10 strips that had a cousin of Charlie Brown(?) before she was "killed off" again.
I watched Paranormal Activity 3 with the wife last week. I should hate these movies, but I can't. The third one is better than the second, and not as good as the first one. I liked the "camera attached to the oscilating fan" gimmick. The ending (which was the strong suit of the other two) was sort of lame, but was just effective enough to let me leave with that slightly chilled feeling that I was going for, so mission accomplished.
All three TV shows that I watch with any consistancy (The Office, The Walking Dead, and Chuck) are, in varying degrees, past their expiration point. I'd love to give up on all three, but I've got a horrible inability to just let them go. I'd really love to with The Office, which has nothing but occasional incredibly cheap laughs, and no substance that I care about at all. Chuck was always kind of lame, but it used to be the fun kind of lame, now it's mostly just groanworthy. The Walking Dead is spinning its tires and going nowhere, they need to get back on the road in the worst way.
When Andrea shot Darryl*, I just about lost it. How contrived can you get? That scene cannot happen in any sort of real world. It's like the old dude says to them afterwards "it's a wonder you're all still alive".
* Darryl is just about the only character I like at all anymore on that show, now that they're trying to make Gabe into a moron like everyone else. All of which makes me sad that they seem to be pushing him in a direction that not only doesn't make any sense for his character, but is actively alienating to the audience)
The Walking Dead is spinning its tires and going nowhere, they need to get back on the road in the worst way.
I don't think the road will help. This show's writing problems run so deep, the slowness is just one of many problems. It's the biggest problem, but solving it won't solve everything else. It's funny, though, that the season opener contained about five episodes' worth of action, and the five episodes since haven't had any. That's just stupid pacing.
The Office has been on fumes since Ken Tremendous moved on. It was alright for a little while, since he'd created so many strong characters that it was hard for the writers to screw them up, but the current writing team seems to be trying to recreate everything that's worked for the show in the past, rather than try to create unique classic episodes.
I've never seen Chuck. It looks fine enough, but I figured watching it would remind me of work. Que sera sera.
No, I don't think it'll fix the show. Mostly, I'm just rooting for it to get back to "just good enough that I don't feel like I'm wasting my time watching it".
Also, 'well zombie' is one of the dumbest ways a show has wasted time in recent memory. It feels like it should be cut back to a half-hour (which I happen to think would help Chuck out a lot, since they don't seem to have enough to fill an hour-long episode anymore).
The Office just needs to end, I don't see any hope for it at this point.
Yeah - half-hour dramas are extremely rare, but The Walking Dead could benefit from that. If they're going to take this slow burn approach in what's supposed to be a friggin' action show, perhaps being forced to tell the story in half an hour would help.
I still enjoy Chuck. Yes, it has declined, but it is still silly fun.
Good riddance on the Intersect/Morgan mashup, however.
I tend to agree, I even mostly enjoyed the 4th season (though seasons 2 and 3 were pretty hard to top). The first half of the second episode was pretty hard to take, though. I'm sort of sad that the show is going away, but I'd hate to see it take a full nosedive like The Office has.
Totally agreed on the Morgan thing. I don't know what their plans were, exactly, when they gave it to him, but it's safe to say that it was a bad idea. With the events at the end of the last episode, I'm interested to see where the show goes.
Last few movies that i can recall seeing: (Probably 90% of all movies I ever watch anymore are from TCM. I could sit and watch TCM for days on end if you let me.)
Frenzy Late period Hitchcock, in fact his first British film in about 20 years. Another of the "wrong man" Hitchcockian murder/suspense stories. Very well done.
The Last Voyage Sinking ocean liner story from 1960, before they became big budget extravaganzas. Liked this more than I expected, but if the annoying kid would have been killed off I would have enjoyed it more.
Ten Little Indians 1965 version of Christie's And Then There Were None. Not great film making by any means, but fun to watch.
Laura Caught Laura on TV for the umpteenth time yesterday. Still enjoy this classic noir everytime I see it.
Ironside pilot movie Set-up movie the the Raymond Burr Ironsides tv series. I'm a sucker for the late 60's, early 70's tv crime dramas.
I saw Frenzy back in the late '80s, and still remember it as being pretty good.
I watched "Cedar Rapids" last week. Im a fan of dumb comedies and I'm from Iowa. I had to like it! But I didn't. The only funny line was from the actor that played Clay Davis on The Wire and they went to it twice. Disappointing.
i have that sitting at home from netflix. been there for a month now...
No movies for me this month. But I did get to see The Boy perform (as a "guest artist" along with several others from his high school to fill in the low brass and percussion sections) with the Santa Rosa Repertory Orchestra, whose impressive performance was followed by an amazing performance by the Santa Rosa Youth Orchestra.
I finally saw Ponyo and Castle in the Sky. The kids get their first Miyazake from Ponyo, which was really awesome. It reminded me that when I was like 8 or 10, I always hoped for a flood, because I thought it would be more fun to swim to my friend's house than to walk.
Castle's ending hammered its point a little to hard, but lots of cool stuff, especially in the first two thirds, which are steampunk (I guess) and just slightly magical.
Well, HPR saw My Neighbor Totoro when he was about eighteen months. He kept looking for the "Kitty Bus".
I should really get these all on DVD.
Catbus ftw.
Laputa didn't still well with me, nor did Hisaishi's soundtrack. Howl's castle is a much better castle.
Castle?
I'd already seen Howl's Moving Castle, and I agree it's much better, but it also reminds me more of Spirited Away.
Still, it's good enough that I'd enjoy watching it a few times, especially with the kids when they're older.
Just waiting on CER to show that she can handle any suspense. Of what I've seen and what I can remember, the order I'll show the kids the movies is:
Ponyo
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
[Big Gap]
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Castle in the Sky
Princess Mononoke
Nausicaä?
I have yet to see that or Porco Russo myself.
(Are there others? I can't remember.)
Porco Russo did nothing for me. Plot kinda wandered...I remember nothing except a prolonged fist fight.
I haven't watched a lot of movies, mostly tv shows. I'm about three episodes behind on The Walking Dead, but it sounds like I'm not missing a ton. I'll most likely catch up, though. Its tough to say no to zombies on cable.
I did finish up Arrested Development and feel like a dick for not watching it back when it was on the air. I got my brother into it this weekend, as well.
The only movie I watched was Winnebago Man, a documentary about the Winnebago Man. It was interesting, and started off as a pretty decent look into the effects some viral videos have on the, most often, un-willing stars of them. But the last 2/3'rds was spent trying to get to know the guy in the video. It was enjoyable.
I also saw Burn After Reading. I liked it, enjoyable and cute little movie. The story kindof reminds me of The Big Lebowski, but it's not as grand. John Malkovic's character annoyed me because he was so excessively John Malkovic. Like what if Malkovic did an impression of an SNL cast member doing a Malkovic impression. Clooney's character was similar to his in O Brother Where Art Thou?. Maybe I'm talking myself out of liking it here, but it was still good, just not very unique among the rest of the Coen Bros films.
Well, it's less likely that Malkovich played Malkovichian than it is that the Coens just wrote the role with him in mind.
Oh, I watched some of the bonus features. They said as much.
I imagine that had he been unable to do it, they'd've had to re-write a bunch of his dialogue cursing.
(Probably 40% of his words are conjugates of f---. Okay, maybe only 40% of the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.)
i'm undecided on that flick. it's pretty good, but not great. definitely a coen bros. flick though (that would be my review of a serious man too, though the latter was more intriguing).
I wrote about the first three Twilight movies last month. This Slate writer did a good job of expressing my thoughts:
5:23 Perhaps I’ll change my mind after four movies’ worth of lip-biting, but so far I’m sticking with my contention that Stewart is a good actress, one whose unfiltered portrayal of teenage lust and discomfort feels almost distractingly real in Twilight’s low-camp context.
My desire about 20 minutes into the first movie was for the Vampires I knew were coming to be her love interest to leave her alone.
Postmortem: The Twilight films have gotten more professional over time—the Breaking Dawns are directed by Oscar winner Bill Condon—but also more lifeless. Hardwicke’s cringe-worthy Red Riding Hood certainly proved she’s fallible, but she also grounded the series in an approximation of real life and palpable teenage psychology, which has steadily drained from each successive film. There is, as Dana Stevens points out in her review, some genuinely, and commendably, weird stuff in Breaking Dawn, Part 1. But it’s weirdness without conviction. Condon is merely photocopying Meyer’s pallid vision for an audience that’s already two steps ahead of him. Unlike the Harry Potter films, which got progressively stronger as the producers learned to trust directors with stronger voices, the Twilight movies have become impersonal to the point of anonymity. They don’t even feel like product any more. They’re more like the Styrofoam product comes packed in.
I'll watch the last two movies, once they're available from the library, but it will only be just so I can get the full story without reading the books. The first movie, especially Stewart's role in it had lots of promise, and I was kindof excited to discover that this thing that I'd assumed sucked just because of the age, gender, and dedication levels of its primary audience. But then after that, it kindof has sucked. I don't know how much of that is on the books as they were written and how much is on the directors, producers, the actors, etc -- I can't imagine the Italian scenes from number 2 could be made significantly less horrible if Spielberg directed it. OK, he'd have the makeup less stupid:
9:12 .... It’s not that they disappear into their roles so much as their bad wigs and thick makeup. For all the money piled into the Twilight films, there’s an amateurish, overstated quality to them, as if they’re staffed by movie-of-the-week veterans thrown out of work by the reality TV boom.
I watched the Battlestar Galactica opening movie months ago - maybe even a year now - and finally picked it up again a week or so ago. I'm loving it. A few casting choices are unfortunate as the show opted for looks over talent, but the writing is excellent.
I've been watching it as well. I'm also greatly enjoying it. It took me a while before I realized the actor that played the president also played the woman who marries Kevin Costner's character in "Dances With Wolves." I think her name was "Stands With a Fist." I think she also played the president's wife in "Independence Day."
i forget her name, but she was awesome in sneakers (which is an excellent movie, by the way).
Mary McDonnell -- yes, great in Sneakers
She is fantastic at jamming all sorts of emotion into the most subtle moments, but never hamming it up. She commands attention every time she's on screen.
Trying to remember if she was in Grand Canyon as well.
She was. I've never seen it, but I can see the cover of the movie in my head. I think she's paired with Kevin Kline? Maybe it's Steve Martin. One of those two.
Kevin Kline, if I remember, but Mary-Louise Parker sticks in my mind more, for some reason 😉
I look forward to your updates on this, as I watched the entire series over the spring and summer.
I think I'm seven episodes in, and the worst I can come up with is a bit of the casting. It's exciting and well-paced, and there are minor characters that are better developed than the leads in other shows.
So far, so good.
I thought some of the actors who started out terrible got a fair amount better as the series went on. Some of them didn't, but hey, we can't all have nice things.
This was my experience as well.
also describes Star Trek: The Next Generation, wrapping back a few days to Beau.
I watched Gamera and Lunopolis. Fortunately, it was the MST3K version of the first one. Unfortunately, it was not the MST3K version of the second.
I suppose if they count, I've watched a lot of MST3K over the last month (though I'd seen all of it before). I'm on a Gamera kick as well. They're so goofy.
Mrs. SoCal is gone to a teacher's convention, so I let the boys pick a movie to watch during dinner last night. Oy. They of course pick it based on the picture they see on Netflix. They chose "Cool Dog" because the title character looks like our own dog. Wow was that bad. Terrible acting, obvious writing with many plot holes and way too many stupid tricks by the dog, including driving a car and playing a piano. The "bad guys" in the movie were cartoonish. It was just amazing how bad this movie was.
Cool Dog rates an impressive 3.5 out of 10 on IMDb. Ugh. The lead, Michael Pare, apparently studied with genius acting instructor Uta Hagen in the '80s. They can't all be winners, I guess.
I rewatched Scary Movie on WGN a couple weeks back in a bout of insomnia. At least half of the decent gags were cut out, in addition to not being as funny as I remember (likely since I'm not 17 anymore).
Other than that I've basically been watching TV. I've been keeping up on The Walking Dead though I have a lot of issues with the pacing and characters. I'm an episode or two behind now, so maybe it gets better? I haven't been loving it. If nothing else, it makes me interested in reading the graphic novel.
I've been watching fansubs of the anime Mawaru Penguin Drum since it's been airing in Japan and it's probably the best anime I've seen in... I don't know, maybe ever? It's completely incredible. It's a very strange story about destiny, a very diverse group of characters whose lives all intersect because of one event (which I don't want to spoil in the off chance someone here goes and watches it since it's a pretty great reveal), and penguins. I really hope it gets licensed in the US soon because I must own this show. Also, it'll be easier for people to watch and people really should watch it.
I bolstered my Blu-Ray collection with 8 Criterion Collection releases (Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors, 8½, Blow Out, Yi Yi, The Sweet Smell of Success, The Rules of the Game, Kuroneko, and Broadcast News) last week thanks to Barnes & Noble's 50% off sale. I'm hoping I have a lot of time to watch them in December.
I think I might be done with The Walking Dead. The second season's opener was dynamite, but the show's been spinning wheels since (I fell a couple behind as well, but I'm starting to doubt that it matters). There are only three characters that the show respects enough to develop, and between them there's maybe half of one good actor.
Yeah, this is pretty much it. I guess that a lot of the characterization deviates quite a bit from the source material, so I may just save myself the time & effort and read the comics instead.
There's really nothing else running right now that I watch save (the absolutely fantastic) Bored to Death, so I may keep chugging along just because. Or maybe I'll just finally work on Homicide or finish Deadwood.
I'm not watching much scripted drama that's on right now either, which is about all that keeps it on my radar. I keep thinking the show should be good, and I keep plugging away at it. It's had just enough good episodes that it's already fooled me twice.
Right now it's all Battlestar, Twin Peaks (I've been stalled - I'm about to the point where the show starts losing direction and starting and stopping storylines willy-nilly), Mad Men (stalled there too, for whatever reason) and Kids in the Hall, of which I saw maybe a third when it was originally on.
I have this weird thing where I'll decide not to watch a movie because I can knock out an episode of something faster, but then I'll watch five episodes in a row, in a span where I could have seen two movies. Maybe I just prefer the long-form storytelling.
Have you gotten to Miguel Ferrer's arrival on Twin Peaks? Aw, man...
I've seen the first half of it twice now, actually, and yeah, he first shows up no later than the sixth or seventh episode. I love that character (and actor).
I always opt for TV dramas over movies, not sure why, but I think it is that I also prefer the long form story telling.
That reminds me, I knocked out all of Season 1 & 2 of Louie last month. What a great show. My crush on Pamela Adlon is immense, she's my favorite part of Californication and she's awesome on Louie.
Yeah, Louie's the other one I'm watching, which I forgot to mention. Oh, and this ridiculous anime High School of the Dead, an exploitative and stupid zombie show that's still, all things considered, more fun than The Walking Dead.
I haven't given up yet, but last night's episode wasn't strong. Apparently they are rotating directors. Perhaps that's why it feels so uneven.
Rotating directors is pretty common in TV because of how big of a job directing is. Rotating head writers is a much bigger sin, and that's essentially what they did in the first season by having no writing team. I think they fixed that, but for some reason, every dangling story from the first season is still dangling, and the one story they've presented this season is moving like molasses.
Makes sense but I'm plumb out of ideas.
Yeah, I finally ran out of reasons to give it a pass, and I think I'm moving on. The only thing making me fight it at this point is my weird obsession with seeing shows through until the end, even if I can't stand them. I think I've given up on just one show in the last five years or so. The upside is I never start one in the first place unless I'm pretty sure about it.
i flew through the first season, which jane loved to my surprise. hope the 2nd one shows up on netflix soon.
I know I checked out more from the library, but I can't remember them all right now.
The Social Network Reminds me of Gilmore Girls in that the machinegun chatter gave me a headache. Interesting from a "historical" perspective.
Bubba Ho-tep Typical B-movie fare, but I HAD to see it. Bruce Campbell, you know.
The Hereafter Ugh. It went nowhere from three directions, and took forever to get there.
A&E's Horatio Hornblower "mini-series" (8 stand-alone "movies") Fine acting by Ioan Gruffudd et. al. Nice supplement to my Master & Commander fix.
argh, i've been meaning to watch bubba ho-tep for a long time now...
As have I. I may even own it, or maybe had it borrowed for some time.
Hereafter. Ugh is right.
I remember a couple other films I'd seen:
Cinema Paradiso Very fine Italian film about a man who grew up as a film projector operator and the young boy he influences in the same occupation. Pretty long running time, but the (director's cut) ending was satisfying in a non-Hollywood way.
The Book of Eli A cross between Damnation Alley and Farenheit 451; things went along nicely until it focused down to Oldman's and Washington's characters, then it became typical post-apocalyptic fare.
Last week we screened Apocalypse Now, which I have seen four or so times now, for the Vietnam class. While there are some nice elements - excellent cinematography, a couple of great character roles for Duvall and Hopper - I came away from this viewing hating the film more than ever. It's just a hot mess, and helped create and feed some pretty awful cliches about Vietnam veterans.
Mrs. Hayes and I watched Papillon at home last weekend. I last saw it when I was in high school, and wasn't disappointed at all with how it has stood up over time. A couple weeks before that we watched the original (and only, as far as I'm concerned) Thomas Crown Affair, which was also pretty enjoyable. Despite the pretty dated technology, the film doesn't feel like a dinosaur, which is a credit to the dynamic between the characters and the gradual ratcheting up of the suspense in the story. Two very different roles for McQueen between those films, although his personal charm does translate between them. I might watch The Sand Pebbles soon just to keep fresh on his work.
I haven't seen either Apocalypse Now or Papillon yet, but my father would agree with your assessment.
The Sand Pebbles is always worth watching.
Saw 50/50 last nite. That was a pretty good movie. The lead actor (the 3rd Rock kid) did a really fantastic job in a challenging role. The young woman from Up in the Air did a nice job too. Moss would like to see her broaden her roles a bit though -- her role here had a lot in common with her role in Up in the Air.
Possibly the best movie that Moss has seen of all the movies released this year.
Last weekend, Moss saw J. Edgar. Despite a very good performance by Leo, this movie was underwhelming. With apologies to Clint, it was too much Bridges of Madison County and not enough Gran Torino.
Buried: I love one-room movies. I liked this one fine, and I honsetly can't articulate anything I disliked about it, but I wasn't as affected by the claustrophobia or other emotional moments as I thought it would be.
Last House on the Left: Wes Craven's first film certainly has some positive elements. It rarely goes for shock value or excessive gore, so in that sense, the violence is incredibly disturbing. But terrible acting, a bizarre score that is opposite the mood of the movie (also by the guy who wrote Hound Dog), and a pointless comedy relief subplot w/ two bumbling cops ruined it for me.
Crazy, Stupid, Love: I'm not sure if this movie figured out if it was lampooning romantic comedies or trying to outdo them. Nothing particularly memorable, but some good acting and some great comedic timing make it a relatively enjoyable watch. I'll see anything with Emma Stone.
Futurama: Halfway through the movies. I'll just say that they're both well-written and hilarious, but both start to feel long after 40 minutes or so.
I'll see anything with Emma Stone.
I feel that way about her too, but I've yet to see her in anything I truly love. Superbad is still my favorite thing I've seen her in, and I only sorta liked that. The House Bunny is wretched, which is doubly unfortunate because I really like Anna Faris (who, like Stone, is pretty good but either has terrible taste in scripts or a terrible agent).
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. If you haven't seen it, that Snoopy is a hoot.
My kids are watching that constantly right now. I got the Charlie Brown Blu-Ray collection for the Milkmaid last Christmas, and the girls are just recently really getting into it.
This reminds me: my IA bro has a couple framed Peanuts comics in his house, which came with the house when he bought it (he was caretaker for an old couple for many years; they had no relatives). Anyway, a friend saw them and said they should be appraised -- they knew they were originals, as the older gentleman who had owned the house had worked in the same building as Charles Shultz.
Anyway, they were sold to the woman who played had Lucy on Broadway...for $40,000! Turns out one of them was one of only 10 strips that had a cousin of Charlie Brown(?) before she was "killed off" again.
I watched Paranormal Activity 3 with the wife last week. I should hate these movies, but I can't. The third one is better than the second, and not as good as the first one. I liked the "camera attached to the oscilating fan" gimmick. The ending (which was the strong suit of the other two) was sort of lame, but was just effective enough to let me leave with that slightly chilled feeling that I was going for, so mission accomplished.
All three TV shows that I watch with any consistancy (The Office, The Walking Dead, and Chuck) are, in varying degrees, past their expiration point. I'd love to give up on all three, but I've got a horrible inability to just let them go. I'd really love to with The Office, which has nothing but occasional incredibly cheap laughs, and no substance that I care about at all. Chuck was always kind of lame, but it used to be the fun kind of lame, now it's mostly just groanworthy. The Walking Dead is spinning its tires and going nowhere, they need to get back on the road in the worst way.
The Walking Dead is spinning its tires and going nowhere, they need to get back on the road in the worst way.
I don't think the road will help. This show's writing problems run so deep, the slowness is just one of many problems. It's the biggest problem, but solving it won't solve everything else. It's funny, though, that the season opener contained about five episodes' worth of action, and the five episodes since haven't had any. That's just stupid pacing.
The Office has been on fumes since Ken Tremendous moved on. It was alright for a little while, since he'd created so many strong characters that it was hard for the writers to screw them up, but the current writing team seems to be trying to recreate everything that's worked for the show in the past, rather than try to create unique classic episodes.
I've never seen Chuck. It looks fine enough, but I figured watching it would remind me of work. Que sera sera.
No, I don't think it'll fix the show. Mostly, I'm just rooting for it to get back to "just good enough that I don't feel like I'm wasting my time watching it".
Also, 'well zombie' is one of the dumbest ways a show has wasted time in recent memory. It feels like it should be cut back to a half-hour (which I happen to think would help Chuck out a lot, since they don't seem to have enough to fill an hour-long episode anymore).
The Office just needs to end, I don't see any hope for it at this point.
Yeah - half-hour dramas are extremely rare, but The Walking Dead could benefit from that. If they're going to take this slow burn approach in what's supposed to be a friggin' action show, perhaps being forced to tell the story in half an hour would help.
I still enjoy Chuck. Yes, it has declined, but it is still silly fun.
I tend to agree, I even mostly enjoyed the 4th season (though seasons 2 and 3 were pretty hard to top). The first half of the second episode was pretty hard to take, though. I'm sort of sad that the show is going away, but I'd hate to see it take a full nosedive like The Office has.
Last few movies that i can recall seeing: (Probably 90% of all movies I ever watch anymore are from TCM. I could sit and watch TCM for days on end if you let me.)
Frenzy Late period Hitchcock, in fact his first British film in about 20 years. Another of the "wrong man" Hitchcockian murder/suspense stories. Very well done.
The Last Voyage Sinking ocean liner story from 1960, before they became big budget extravaganzas. Liked this more than I expected, but if the annoying kid would have been killed off I would have enjoyed it more.
Ten Little Indians 1965 version of Christie's And Then There Were None. Not great film making by any means, but fun to watch.
Laura Caught Laura on TV for the umpteenth time yesterday. Still enjoy this classic noir everytime I see it.
Ironside pilot movie Set-up movie the the Raymond Burr Ironsides tv series. I'm a sucker for the late 60's, early 70's tv crime dramas.
I saw Frenzy back in the late '80s, and still remember it as being pretty good.
I watched "Cedar Rapids" last week. Im a fan of dumb comedies and I'm from Iowa. I had to like it! But I didn't. The only funny line was from the actor that played Clay Davis on The Wire and they went to it twice. Disappointing.
i have that sitting at home from netflix. been there for a month now...
No movies for me this month. But I did get to see The Boy perform (as a "guest artist" along with several others from his high school to fill in the low brass and percussion sections) with the Santa Rosa Repertory Orchestra, whose impressive performance was followed by an amazing performance by the Santa Rosa Youth Orchestra.
I finally saw Ponyo and Castle in the Sky. The kids get their first Miyazake from Ponyo, which was really awesome. It reminded me that when I was like 8 or 10, I always hoped for a flood, because I thought it would be more fun to swim to my friend's house than to walk.
Castle's ending hammered its point a little to hard, but lots of cool stuff, especially in the first two thirds, which are steampunk (I guess) and just slightly magical.
Well, HPR saw My Neighbor Totoro when he was about eighteen months. He kept looking for the "Kitty Bus".
I should really get these all on DVD.
Catbus ftw.
Laputa didn't still well with me, nor did Hisaishi's soundtrack. Howl's castle is a much better castle.
Castle?
I'd already seen Howl's Moving Castle, and I agree it's much better, but it also reminds me more of Spirited Away.
Still, it's good enough that I'd enjoy watching it a few times, especially with the kids when they're older.
Just waiting on CER to show that she can handle any suspense. Of what I've seen and what I can remember, the order I'll show the kids the movies is:
Ponyo
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
[Big Gap]
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Castle in the Sky
Princess Mononoke
Nausicaä?
I have yet to see that or Porco Russo myself.
(Are there others? I can't remember.)
Porco Russo did nothing for me. Plot kinda wandered...I remember nothing except a prolonged fist fight.
I haven't watched a lot of movies, mostly tv shows. I'm about three episodes behind on The Walking Dead, but it sounds like I'm not missing a ton. I'll most likely catch up, though. Its tough to say no to zombies on cable.
I did finish up Arrested Development and feel like a dick for not watching it back when it was on the air. I got my brother into it this weekend, as well.
The only movie I watched was Winnebago Man, a documentary about the Winnebago Man. It was interesting, and started off as a pretty decent look into the effects some viral videos have on the, most often, un-willing stars of them. But the last 2/3'rds was spent trying to get to know the guy in the video. It was enjoyable.
I also saw Burn After Reading. I liked it, enjoyable and cute little movie. The story kindof reminds me of The Big Lebowski, but it's not as grand. John Malkovic's character annoyed me because he was so excessively John Malkovic. Like what if Malkovic did an impression of an SNL cast member doing a Malkovic impression. Clooney's character was similar to his in O Brother Where Art Thou?. Maybe I'm talking myself out of liking it here, but it was still good, just not very unique among the rest of the Coen Bros films.
Well, it's less likely that Malkovich played Malkovichian than it is that the Coens just wrote the role with him in mind.
Oh, I watched some of the bonus features. They said as much.
I imagine that had he been unable to do it, they'd've had to re-write a bunch of his
dialoguecursing.(Probably 40% of his words are conjugates of f---. Okay, maybe only 40% of the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.)
i'm undecided on that flick. it's pretty good, but not great. definitely a coen bros. flick though (that would be my review of a serious man too, though the latter was more intriguing).
I wrote about the first three Twilight movies last month. This Slate writer did a good job of expressing my thoughts:
My desire about 20 minutes into the first movie was for the Vampires I knew were coming to be her love interest to leave her alone.
I'll watch the last two movies, once they're available from the library, but it will only be just so I can get the full story without reading the books. The first movie, especially Stewart's role in it had lots of promise, and I was kindof excited to discover that this thing that I'd assumed sucked just because of the age, gender, and dedication levels of its primary audience. But then after that, it kindof has sucked. I don't know how much of that is on the books as they were written and how much is on the directors, producers, the actors, etc -- I can't imagine the Italian scenes from number 2 could be made significantly less horrible if Spielberg directed it. OK, he'd have the makeup less stupid:
[No need to read the linked article.]