What movies have you seen recently?

[AUChase]

Quote: Originally Posted by ubernoob

Mannnnn.... Clerks 2 was awesome. Not on the level of the original, but it still had it's moments. and it had Rosario Dawson, so there's that.

I did laugh quite a bit, but the movie itself still wasn't that good to me.

****ty might have been a little harsh.. lol.

[UofLCards]

Took my son to see The Lego Movie yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised. There was tons of humor meant just for adults. If you've played with LEGOs or if your kid is obsessed with them like mine is, you will really understand and dig this movie.

Spoiler

The Will Ferrell twist at the end was genius

[SPTO]

Regarding Clerks 2, I think it's a solid little movie and pretty funny but I think a lot of the charm of the first movie was gone the 2nd time around. Some of it has to do with aesthetics as I believe Kevin Smith was told he couldn't film it in B&W the way he did with the first film. Doing it in color and trying to make a more cohesive story rather than just following the lives of these people made it feel more mainstream rather than being something that's quirky and outside of the box.


Speaking of B&W I just finished watching Good Night, And Good Luck (2005). I think it's a very good film but it's not a very conventional one either as it's as close to being a documentary as one can get without being such. The use of old footage of Edward R. Murrow's program and Joseph McCarthy alone made it pretty much a step by step walkthrough of Murrow's stand against McCarthyism. The movie is however a bit meta in that the thesis is that the news business is one that is being pushed to cater to the whims of the corporations and to just entertain the masses rather than to expose the ugly truths of the world. In a lot of ways that parallels the way the news business has been corrupted what with infotainment rather than telling the truth as it is.

As for the acting I thought that David Strathairn did a wonderful job as Murrow. He was pretty much spot on in look and tone. George Clooney was pretty good as well but I liked that he and his fellow scribe didn't make his role bigger than it was. The use of B&W really enhanced the period feel of the film and it's amazing to me how much B&W can give definition to a person's look when it's done in a spartan way with sharp contrast between brightness and darkness.

Overall, a good film that I give ** 1/2 stars.


I'll have a longer review up later on my blog.

[BlueNGold]

happythankyoumoreplease - I seen this the other day at a store for $5 and figured I'd give it a shot since it was written, directed and starring Josh Radnor (Ted from How I Met Your Mother).

It's about a struggling New York writer named Sam who finds a foster kid and takes care of him. But it's also a trio of coming of age stories about Sam and his group of friends, which consists of Sam's cousin and her boyfriend, Sam's best friend Annie, who has an auto-immune disorder (played by Malin Akerman, which I completely forgot until the credits rolled at the end -- she was great), and Mississippi, the girl Sam falls for.

Basically if I had to sum it up, it's Big Daddy meets an HBO sitcom with maybe a touch of (500) Days of Summer.

The problem I had is there's probably a little too much going on with all of the different storylines and they don't completely intersect that well, mainly the story of Sam and the foster kid, Rasheen. I feel like that should have been the main focus throughout the movie but halfway through it seems to get kind of tossed to the side. I also didn't care too much for the story of Sam's cousin. I think that could have been cut out completely and the movie would have been better for it.

That aside, I really liked this. It's far from perfect but I enjoyed most of the characters and watching their struggles and growth. And there's a charming aspect to the movie as well. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic.

I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but it's worth a look if you enjoy this kind of movie like I do.

[BunnyHardaway]

Saw Rush last night and thought it was pretty good. I don't know if it was an intentional ode to Days of Thunder, but the opening race scene reminded me of Days of Thunder and it was ****ing awesome.

[Aggies7]

Watched Last Vegas. Thought it was great and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

[Chip Douglass]

I finally got around to seeing Schindler's List.

Great, great movie.

EDIT: Ralph Finnes' portrayal of Amon Goeth is one of the better acting performances I've ever seen.

[Beantown]

Rush - Have never paid attention to racing of any kind, so knew nothing about the story, but that was a damn good movie. Solid acting, good drama, good pacing.

Gravity - Breath-taking. Beautiful movie. Can't wait to watch that on a big TV with some surround sound.

Thor: The Dark World - Might be my second favorite Marvel stand-alone, behind Iron Man. Thought it was incredibly well-done.