I just watched Gideon's Army... It's an HBO documentary that follows three public defenders in the south. Really incredible... I highly recommend it.

i'm hoping you've all seen payback with mel gibson.
the talk of lucy lui brought it to mind.

if you've seen the theatrical release the directors cut is worth watching as well. its much darker.

based on a donald westlake novel about a guy named parker (was in a series of novels and they're all great).

they made another version with jason statham called parker and i couldn't make it 10mins into the movie.

I caught about an hour of this doc Trophy Kids about insane sports parents and that was about as disturbing as The Act of Killing, heh. I want to see the rest of it. Just what in the hell. These parents are emotional terrorists.

just went on a spontaneous solo trip to the theater to see this one. turned out I was the only one in the theater, which was actually quite enjoyable

I liked it as well. but I am a sucker for CIA thrillers. thought the Jack-girl scenes were way too thick (could have worked with a better actress/script I guess). definitely well short of Bourne level and it does feel less authentic than your top tier action-thrillers but on the whole I enjoyed it.

Thought it was entertaining enough, but overall pretty forgettable.

Why exactly did Jack have to be the one to go into the Russian's office?



Loved Lucky Number Slevin. Dialogue was great.

Being on a cargo ship the past couple of days, crossing the seas of the Philippines wasn't the most awe inspiring for my back and body aches, but thankfully I was blessed with quite a few flicks.

The Insider

You expect a movie based on true events to somewhat drag in the endless accumulation of facts, and this one is no exception. Thankfully the excellent performances of Russell Crowe and Al Pacino make this process an enjoyable one, to the extent where this 2h30 + flick is a delight from the beginning. Very solid for a genre that needs more of these solid examples.

edit : forgot to mention. I noticed from the get go that Lisa Gerard was the soundtrack director (she is the singer of Dead Can Dance and has done the likes of Baraka before) and was immensely surprised... After all, how can some mystic/New Age/Progressif music fit in a real life drama movie... And it is weird at first, slightly too serious, but building up some sort of drama... but then the music just becomes awesome, peaking with the climax of the story!
8.4/10

The Iceman

Wow, was Michael Shannon ever made for this role or what! Ray Liota is his solid self in yet another gangsta role. Very enjoyable.

7.8/10

Days of Heaven

Yes, I know, I will get some steam for this, but Terrence Malick doesn't do for me. Sure his movies are picturesque and his camera is a delight to watch. But I have a heard time to engage in many of his scripts.

Loved the camera, the shots of the west, the attentive, slowness of the scenes. But while I enjoy the process of viewing, his stories leave me mostly indifferent. And this one was not an example. I will revisit soon a Thin Red Line, but until then :

7.6/10

love this movie. russell crowe at his absolute best. the deposition scene where the mississippi state attorney chews out the tobacco industry lawyer is amazing.

Finally saw "Her"


I don't really have the know-how to truly engage in meaningful discussion about movies or anything but I definitely found it a thought provoking experience. Perhaps, being single atm, it hit a bit too close to home lol? I found it mildly disconcerting at the beginning and I thought it might be a little too awkward, even though I knew what I was getting into, but as the movie went on I found it got better and better. You can certainly see how someone could get attached to something that *almost* loves it unconditionally; everyone has the desire to love and be loved, but everyone wants it to be for the right reasons. It asked a lot of the right questions I think. Def one of my fave films of 2013.

I, Frankenstein is a masterpiece.

come on

ok maybe I'm over-selling a little bit. It's such a ****ing goofy movie. Eckhart is so lolbad I couldn't help but laugh like a ****ing maniac through the entire film. It's ridiculous campy fun. It reminded me of renting some random VHS from the horrror shelf and being like, "holy ****ing **** this bad movie is ****ing fun!!"

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. For some reason I dug the hell out of it. I saw with some friends tonight and seem to be in the minority haha

I'll take your word for it, still not going to see in the theater!

Dubnjoy,
there's nothing wrong with not liking movies the way certain other people do. Days of Heaven to me is the one of the greatest movies ever made (I sure as hell don't mean this in an "objective way, I mean I am transfixed by the images) and I could watch it every single day. I'd recommend giving it some time watch it again and completely ignore the plot. There's a reason it feels a bit choppy on the story, is isn't about a story so much as the NOW moment. Being in the universe - all things shining. The story is completely beside the point. ~Nobody else makes movies about this so at first I suppose it could feel off somehow. See if you can let go of the story and just take in the experience; otherwise you're watching it "wrong" so to speak. It isn't an intellectual exercise, quite the opposite. If you get what I'm saying and still don't like it, alrighty then.

Also loved I, Frankenstein. And for similar reasons. Campy fun.

An oral history of Swingers

Posted this is the Grantland thread in Sports and got ignored because everyone's too busy arguing about the Dr. V article.

I didn't know anything about the making of Swingers and thought the article was extremely interesting, albeit quite a long read.

read it the other day, it's fascinating. despite swingers probably being among my top 5 in the category "movies i've watched the most times," i had no idea just what a cobbled-together, fly-by-night operation the making of it really was.

The Bling Ring - I love Sofia Coppola. I think she does a good job here. But I ****ing hated every character. I hated it even more that I know it was realistic and it reminded me why I hate that US Weekly celebrity ****. Amazing how similar this is to Spring Breakers, only not as ambitious. 5/10

Don Jon - I liked it more than I expected. Even though I hated, HATED that jersey Italian club scene thing they were doing in the beginning. ScarJo is always great to look at, but every time she opened her mouth with that accent I wanted to put the TV on mute. If only I could figure out how to get the voice and personality of that OS from Her and put it into this body. If only.

I did enjoy the character arc and Julianne Moore even though the catharsis is pretty obvious. JGL could be a talented writer/director but here's hoping next time he isn't making himself into a complete unlikable douche for most of the movie.

6/10

I think The Bling Ring would have functioned better as a 20 minute short. It's a one note flick that overstays it's welcome shortly after the first robbery.

Looking for few movies to watch. Are any of these worth it?

The Machinist (2004)
The Game (1997)
A History of Violence (2005)
Munich (2005)
Match Point (2005)
Sleepers (1996)
Michael Clayton (2007)
Matchstick Men (2003)

I loved Munich (although there is some political bias, as you can expect). I haven't seen any of the rest.

Some decent picks in here

Machinist. Dark, disturbing, well worth a watch.

The Game. Unique idea and pretty amusing

History of Violence. Solid, gangster film. You get what you expect.

Munich. Tragic but didn't click with me.

Match Point. Nice to know woody Allen could mix it up with this movie. I liked it

The last 3 were passable but nothing special IMO with Clayton being best

Most of em.

If you're a genre fan, Michael Clayton, Matchstick Men, The Game, Sleepers...

If you're an arthouse guy, I'd go History of Violence, Munich, Match Point, Sleepers, Michael Clayton, The Machinist, The Game

they're all worth watching tho i'd rank the machinist at the bottom.

michael clyaton was a masterpiece and prolly would've won best picture had it not been up vs NCFOM n TWWB.
the game is great fun and its a fincher movie, all of his stuff is worth watching, dude is a genius (and hilarious to boot).

sleepers wasn't anything special but def worth checking out.

match point was w/e but had a decent twist at the end. nothing special but if you have time to kill.

history of violence is good in so much as viggio is criminally underrated as is ed harris.

matchstick men also just whatever but sam rockewell is always a pleasure to watch.

Yeah, I liked all of those.

Actually like Matchstick Men a lot. Not only was Rockwell great as always, but also thought Alison Lohman delivered a really good performance. Not saying it is the best of the group, just wanted to give it some love after others saying it was whatever.