Totally agree. I really expected more.

Grace

On its face, this is a horror movie about an infertile woman who somehow has a baby, and the baby is like a sort-of monster.

What it really is is a commentary on womens' issues and veganism. It is creepy in places (in a good way), but ultimately, it just seems like Repulsion (yes, Polanski's Repulsion) meets It's Alive....with an agenda!

4/10

12 Monkeys

Makes sense enough, unlike some time travel movies, and has some interesting moments, but overall seems to miss what I take are its two main emotional emphases -- the final confrontation and emotion of the main character realizing how everything works and will end. The first, because the final confrontation worked toward all film long



and also because the main pay off of the film is essentially an emotional one, and Bruce Willis can carry only a few emotions, and generally immediately. He is not up to the emotional resonance of the role. He is not one who can evoke a sort of deep breath in the heart; he is more of a mouth breather. To be fair, director Gilliam can be hit or miss as an emotional director, and he doesn't give Willis enough to work with here. He doesn't give female lead Madeleine Stowe, enough to work with either, though she does her best with what she's got.

Done really well, a movie like this would be rewatchable quite a number of times. I don't think there's any more to be pulled out of it than one might get from one or at the most two watchings. I'll skip the second.

I just watched Whit Stillman's movie Barcelona. Lots of dry wit and stylized dialogue. Think Wes Anderson, but not as outlandish. Two young Americans dance, and have sex, with many beautiful girls in 1980's Barcelona, amid a political scene that is very anti-American. It's a strange movie, but not quite as strange as Metropolitan. Stillman is a unique talent, and I wish he made more movies.

me neither. but when you really think about what it means for the human race to be infertile, it's pretty fascinating because it sheds light on our behavior now.

a column by David Brooks on this idea was really good imo. you can read it here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/op...ooks.html?_r=1. a quote from it to capture its theme:

i'll have to re-rent the movie now. only saw it once.

watched a few since I have last posted.

Adventureland- Not the comedy I expected but pretty good story. All of the characters are likeable which is kinda nice. Overall I enjoyed it, but I would have been disapointed if I had seen it in the theaters. 3/5

Special- This was a movie I watched from reviews in the other thread. On Netflix View Instant. Just a very interesting premise wich then warps into a really interesting look at some of the fringe members of society. 3.5/5 (really can't decide on my Netflix rating)

Sex Drive- Horrible teen comedy that I liked. Yes I know that sentence didn't make sense. Just goofy and entertaining. A very poor mans American Pie. I watched it on Netflx View Instant while playing video games and I don't feel I missed anything. Lots of nudity also. 3/5

American Swing- Got through about 10 minutes and knew this wasn't for me. On Netflix View Instant.

Last House On the Left- Oh my God this movie was a mess. Just one "why would that happen?" and "thats not what any resonable person would do" "that does not even make any sense" and "the laws of physics would not allow that" ect moments. I really wanted to like it also because it's a good concept for a horror movie. The last scene in the unrated version makes absolutly no sense. Was that the same day? ugh, I really regret the paper I wasted on the Netflix envelop. 1/5 (zero if Netflix would let me).

Watching Dexter Season 2 on Netflix View Instant which is really good.

Ken

Just saw "the Re-Animator", it got a 7/10 on IMBD so i was expecting this to be a great movie and i definitely wasnt dissapointed. Being a HUGE fan of the horror/zombie movie genre ive seen countless numbers of films and this easily rates up there with all the George A Romero classics.

Blarg, I recently discovered the anime series Samurai Champloo. I was very impressed when I watched the first episode and found myself watching all 26 episodes in three days. I recommend watching it in Japanese with English subs although there are English dubs but that's just me. I believe most episodes are on YouTube.

ReAnimator is great. Try and catch 'From Beyond' from the same team, it's even wackier, and better imo.

The Accidental Tourist

Hadn't seen this for quite a while, and I must say, it holds up nicely.

I won't bother reviewing it, other than to say that William Hurt has at least ten scenes that could probably qualify for the "non-verbal acting" thread. Really top-notch.

Of course, Geena Davis won for Best Supporting Actress. She was very good (but I can't see it as a Streep-like performance by any stretch).

Anyway, definitely worthy of a Netflix, if you've never seen it.

Hell, go ahead and get In The Bedroom and Ordinary People, too. Have a themed film festival. Bonus film in the theme: Jacob's Ladder, which is cheating, but that's OK.

Reanimator is fantastic. Did you know the guy who played the decapitated professor doing the nasty with the scrumptious Barbara was left by his girlfriend on the spot at a screening?

Thanks for the recommendation. It's certainly a low-risk proposition if it's on youtube.

Loved Ordinary People and Jacob's Ladder. Probably saw the former like ... 8 times in the theater when it came out.

Death Race

update of 'Death Race 2000', and not a bad actioner with Jason Statham. Better than the original, if a bit grim. I enjoyed it, though it did have some flaws.


The Stayff is really the Chuck Norris of this decade give this, the Transporter series and the Crank series. But he does it pretty well imo.

Last 3 movies I saw were Oldboy, The Battle of Algiers, and Red.

I liked the first two but didn't care much from Red which was surprising and disappointing, especially after (iirc) Rushmore and Dominic and Redtomatoes led me to believe I'd love it.

Interestingly (sort of) the last highly rated movie I watched and disliked was Unforgiven which similarly to Battle of Algiers, has sort of a moral ambiguity. However, in Unforgiven it seemed to just make me uninterested and not empathize much with any character and in Algiers it really worked for me and made me empathetic to both sides. I particularly liked the French colonel.