What movies have you seen recently?

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Help - Watched this on vacation with the family. It was pretty good. Nothing outstanding, but the top 3 leads were all awesome I thought. Overall it felt glossy, but good for a rental.

Drive - This continues to get better with each viewing. I feel like most of this is pretty much the pinnacle of what they're trying to do (which is not to say its the best, but I don't see how this crew could have done better). I love how constrained the movie is so that when **** does hit the fan its hits the fan and knocks it off the table and through the floor. The little splashes of action really feel bigger than what they truly are and gives those scenes real staying power that action-filled megafests simply can't do because they don't moderate themselves. The John Hughes love scenes are essentially the same way for me. Little dialogue. Little action. Yet there is chemistry in there and it conveys the same message of relationship building that swarmy, on the nose dialogue and contrite romcom scenes attempt to convey. This movie continues to move up my movie list and I believe it is eying the likes of Memento.

[DJ]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Rewatched Napoleon Dynamite and Major League for the first time in a really long while. So quotable.

A baseball fan and you haven't watched Major League in 'a really long while'? BLASPHEMY!

j/k (kinda)

Love, love, love that movie.

Napoleon Dynamite is another that I really like. It's one of those movies that you either love or hate (and I know many that can't stand that movie), but for me, it's great and like you said, so many quotable lines.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Haven't watched a real oldie in a while so I rectified that with not one but TWO films


Alias Nick Beal (1949)


This was a fantastic film directed by John Farrow (Mia's father) and starring Ray Milland Audrey Totter and Thomas Mitchell. It's one of those movies that came out having to do with the influence of angels and the devil etc etc. like Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) The Devil and Daniel Webster, (1941) Angel on my Shoulder, (1946) and The Bishop's Wife (1947) etc etc.

Here's the plot summary which I will put in spoilers as it's slightly spoilerish.

Spoiler

Righteous district attorney Joseph Foster's (Thomas Mitchell) main goal in life is to rid his city of the gangsters infesting it. In order to be even more efficient in his war against crime he plans to run for governor. One day he meets a strange, shadowy man, Nick Beal, (Ray Milland) who offers to help him to achieve his end. Beal convinces hesitating Foster by dint of easy money, easy sex with an alluring young woman and the promise of easy success. Joseph Foster soon becomes an influential politician but a corrupt one. A minister of God manages to show him that he has been the plaything of the so-called Nick Beal, who might be "Old Nick" , that is to say Satan himself. Foster then decides to resign and to become an honest man again

Ray Milland is the reason to watch this movie as his portrayal of ol' Nick Scratch as it were is fascinating and while you find the man utterly distasteful and amoral you can't help but be charmed by his presence. Milland's devil is not as slick and charming in the conventional sense the way Walter Huston was in "Daniel Webster" instead Milland shows that seediness but there's a magnetism to his performance that draws you into listening to every word he says. The effect of Milland's Nick Beal is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler in that way. You know it's pretty much evil incarnate but you can't help but be in his sway.

This is evident throughout as he completely takes over the good intentions and life of Joseph Foster played admirably by Thomas Mitchell. Foster is one of those guys that believes in the virtue of decency and hard work but when he's stymied in putting away a top gangster when evidence is destroyed he says aloud that he'd give his soul to put said gangster in jail. That opens the door for Nick Beal to enter his life and while he detests the idea of taking evidence without the proper protocols he takes it which leads him down the road of being kowtowed into running for Governor which is a dream of his so that he can do good for the city but of course Nick Beal has other plans for his governorship. It goes so far that Beal finds a down on her luck woman to work for him and to seduce Foster. Said woman is played capably by Audrey Totter and there's a fantastic scene where Beal goes through how to seduce Foster into taking corrupt money AND leave his wife for her. It's a pretty chilling scene in some ways with just how cold and calculated Beal can be.

I do want to mention George Macready who got to play a good guy in this movie as Foster's friend and head of the Catholic boys charity organization. Macready gives his character a strong focal point especially in the scenes when he confronts Beal, not quite knowing who he is until near the end when he and Foster's wife drive off to save him as he goes to forfeit his soul to Beal.

This is a great film and one that has a lot of great acting so if you ever run across it somehow I urge you to see it. I'd give this a solid 3 Stars and it's definitely one of the very best roles Ray Milland did which is saying a lot considering he did The Lost Weekend (1945)



Next up is a movie that pales in comparison but as a fan of the genre I found it passable:

Man from God's Country (1958)

This was a pretty routine B western starring George Montgomery but I thought there was a couple nice things about it. This movie is chock full of the cliches of the genre: A good man heading into a bad situation, two women with jealousies, a friend who may prove dangerous even the hero who befriends a child trope is thrown in there as well! All in all though it wasn't too bad though the movie was far too short and the pacing left a lot to be desired.

Dan Beattie gives up his lawman job to move further west and rejoin his old war buddy Curt Warren in the town of Sundown. At first mistaken for a railroad agent by Beau Santee, a Sundown businessman who wants to keep the railroad away from his town, Dan is nearly killed by Santee's henchman, Mark Faber. Dan discovers that his old pal Curt works for Santee. Even after learning Dan's true identity, Santee considers him trouble and plots to get rid of him. With the help of Curt's son Stony, Dan tries to get Curt to take a stand on the right side of the law.

The movie tries to be hip with the times by going with a darker than usual plot for a western of the time period and have a more adult theme to it but as I said the pacing was pretty bad. About 30% of the film is slow set up and even when the plot gets going it seems to be stuck in neutral. Montgomery is pretty good here and at times his acting has a bit of a James Stewart feel to it especially in his scenes with Curt's son Stony. I did like how frank the movie was about the sexual attitude of Beau Santee's woman Nancy Dawson as she tries to bed Beattie so that he can be her man on the side after she marries Santee. Clearly Nancy is supposed to be one of those women that uses sex to get what she wants though she does go through a (all too quick) redemption and by the end of the movie is Dan's girl by legit means.

I did like how they flipped around the cliched gunfight on a deserted street even if the result was totally expected it at least did something a little different. So while this movie isn't going to make someone a convert to the Western genre I think it's an ok time waster for those who are fans of it. I wouldn't exactly run out and buy this off of WB's Archives Collection site but if you run into it it's worth a look-see.

1 1/2 Stars out of 4 (mainly for poor pacing and too quick a running time)

[bigbob]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Cabin in the Woods

I'm still iffy on how I felt about the movie.

It was one of those "horror" movies that you could predict pretty much everything that was going to happen next.

I'd recommend watching it before making any judgement.

[Beantown]

Cabin in the Woods

I'm still iffy on how I felt about the movie.

It was one of those "horror" movies that you could predict pretty much everything that was going to happen next.

I'd recommend watching it before making any judgement.

I did not like it as much as I hoped I would.

There was nothing scary about it. It felt like a cheesy B-rated, low budget movie for me. Maybe I went in with too high of expectations but I was severely underwhelmed.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I did not like it as much as I hoped I would.

There was nothing scary about it. It felt like a cheesy B-rated, low budget movie for me. Maybe I went in with too high of expectations but I was severely underwhelmed.

That's why I loved it. It felt like Army of Darkness or even Evil Dead a bit in the sense that the horror is more to set up the comedic undertones (or overtones in Raimi's films). It was a rip on all those cliches, but it did in a way that wasn't patronizing and was more of a homage than criticizing them.

The ending is wonderful, though.

[Beantown]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

That's why I loved it. It felt like Army of Darkness or even Evil Dead a bit in the sense that the horror is more to set up the comedic undertones (or overtones in Raimi's films). It was a rip on all those cliches, but it did in a way that wasn't patronizing and was more of a homage than criticizing them.

The ending is wonderful, though.

See, I just didn't think it lived up to the real good movies that are that type (mainly those two you listed). I just...hoped for more, I think.

I'll watch it again soon, sometimes movies like this have to grow on me and maybe having seen it through once I won't be disappointed and can appreciate it for what it is. I'm hoping a see a "different" movie the second viewing.

[areobee401]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Thought that movie was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

See, I just didn't think it lived up to the real good movies that are that type (mainly those two you listed). I just...hoped for more, I think.

I'll watch it again soon, sometimes movies like this have to grow on me and maybe having seen it through once I won't be disappointed and can appreciate it for what it is. I'm hoping a see a "different" movie the second viewing.

Compared to those two a lot of horror movies don't come close.

Spoiler

I also thought the whole "system" that Whedon had set up and being able to see both sides was pretty entertaining and a nice twist to all those homages scattered around.

Honestly, I don't see a lot of recent horror movies for the same reason I don't go and see a lot of action films. A lot of them are just junk. I thought Cabin in the Woods was good and worth seeing. I haven't bought it so take that how you like it, but I would say it would rank top 10 of recent horror films including the likes of The Descent, Let The Right One In, and Drag Me To Hell (which I realize is another polarizing movie around here).

[Wazzup36]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I saw The Master on friday night and I'm still trying to process what exactly I saw.

I think I really liked it though.

[bigbob]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

I did not like it as much as I hoped I would.

There was nothing scary about it. It felt like a cheesy B-rated, low budget movie for me. Maybe I went in with too high of expectations but I was severely underwhelmed.

I thought they had a good idea of what they wanted to do with the movie, but like you, I didn't like it as much as I thought. I just felt like everything that happened was obvious, like you said, a cheesy B-rated, low budget movie.

I expected it to be something good, I expected it to be semi-scary. Parts that were suppose to be scary were laughable.

Spoiler

You knew who was going to die, how they were going to die. The only one that surprised me was how the black guy died because I didn't even think that someone was in the camper.

[dickey1331]

Open Water 2. What a stupid movie. No sharks and the ending makes zero sense.


Do you really care where I sent this from?

[WinMINTwins]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Not having seen the first Open Water, I don't really know if this is a disappointment or not. Can't be worse than MIB 2, Wayne's World 2, or Major League 2.

[dickey1331]

Not having seen the first Open Water, I don't really know if this is a disappointment or not. Can't be worse than MIB 2, Wayne's World 2, or Major League 2.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the first Open Water. Only thing that's the same is you have people in the ocean.


Do you really care where I sent this from?

[WinMINTwins]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

It has absolutely nothing to do with the first Open Water. Only thing that's the same is you have people in the ocean.


Do you really care where I sent this from?

Oh, so like Troll 2.

("They're eating her. And then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!")

In Troll 2, it was vegetarian goblins. Try to get your head around that. Haven't seen the first Troll, but apparently the main character's name is, in all actuality, Harry Potter.