I liked Mr. Fox OK, and yes, it was smart-assed, but I thought the animation was awesome. Not all animation needs to be heartwarming and feelgood.

I really enjoyed Up because it was heartwarming and feelgood.

The dichotomy!

Kick-Ass was wonderfully entertaining and a slightly different film than what the previews lead me to believe.

here is one of the better reviews I've read on it

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44677

I've always been fascinated by Robert McNamara's strange hair. It almost looks like a bad hair transplant, but it was like that forever, even back in the 60's. David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest is a great book about all that Vietnam stuff.

I liked Mr. Fox, but I can see how people could really hate it for the cutesy.

Not sure I'd call Up feelgood. OK it had the obligatory happy ending, but a lot of the tone of the film was quite downbeat. I feel the same way about Toy Story 2.

I thought the animation of Mr Fox was OK, didn't blow me away. But the film raped the tone of the book and just generally really annoyed me. It's a kids' book, not a ****ing contemporary fable about the togetherness of family or whatever ****.

Can anyone rank some of the best Vietnam war movies out there?
I have a feeling i've seen way to few of them...

I'd give it to Morris over Herzog, especially since I've seen all of Morris's work. Still, though, I'd put Frederick Wiseman over both. Unfortunately, only a couple of his documentaries are available from Netflix.

Also helpful to understand how Morris works is his invention called the Interrotron.

I was disappointed in "9" too. What a great trailer, but wow what a letdown.

Platoon is probably the best of the bunch. The Deer Hunter is flawed but effective.

Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket aren't really "Viet Nam movies," they are just set in Viet Nam.

Strangely, Casualties of War wasn't as bad I would have expected. I hate Brian DePalma, but somehow I enjoyed this film. Maybe it is the inclusion of The Greatest Entertainer of Our Generation, John C. Reilly, that makes it worthwhile for me.

Born on the Fourth of July is passable, but, well, not a great film.

The Killing Fields is really about Cambodia, not Viet Nam, but it's a GREAT movie.

Very strong recommendation for Born on the Fourth of July from me. Best Tom Cruise performance by far, enough so that I thought he was going to be a much bigger talent than he turned out to be. Willem Dafoe is in it too, which is always great news. There's a wheelchair battle between them that is one of the most bleakly hilarious blackest of black comedy I've ever seen. Extremely emotionally affecting throughout and based on a true story. There was a huge controversy about this movie when it came out, as the story is based on Ron Livingstone, IIRC, a vietnam vet who eventually became an anti-Vietnam protestor in the thick of the hatred that sprang up around that war and still echoes through the country about it today. A very, very important and excellent movie, IMO.

Vietnam is all about Platoon and The Deer Hunter for me. And Bruce Dern dying in Coming Home as Tim Buckley's Once I Was plays.

From the list you gave I only saw deer hunter, guess i got some work to do! i'll go for Platoon this weekend

thanks

I am inclined to disagree with most of this (except the wheelchair battle, which was truly excellent), but your post has made me realize something:

It might well be a great film. I simply didn't like it.

So I stand corrected.

Make it a double feature. Watch Apocalypse Now, too.

You won't regret it.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT WATCH THE "REDUX" VERSION. WATCH THE ORIGINAL (there is a reason films are edited).

Born on the Fourth of July is based on Ron Kovic's life, not Ron Livingstone's.

He made a memorable speech at a Democratic National Convention many years before the movie was made.

Ron Livingston is the great actor from Office Space and Band of Brothers, and is often considered to be the greatest entertainer of his generation.

Oh well, bad on the name. I haven't seen it since I saw it back in the day. At least I got the Ron right, and didn't think it was Ronald Reagan!

The great movies about Ronald Reagan are still waiting to be made, unfortunately. Ronald Reagan Sr., I mean. Only Sr., please!

My 2 year old loves it ... you cussin with me?

yeah Fantastic Mr. Fox was a big whiff for me, thought it was pretentious and too long

I finally saw Moon. I echo all the praise that's been issued throughout this thread. Great film, great atmosphere, everything was really well-handled by first time director Duncan Jones. I loved it from start to finish. 2001 is one of my favorite films of all time and I appreciated all the visual/narrative references throughout, particularly

The twist towards the end of the story is fantastic, but one question kept nagging at me:

Rushmore,

If you haven't seen it, then you might enjoy Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia. I saw him do this on stage and loved it, and the film, directed by Jonathan Demme, is quite good. Gray was a riveting performer.

That was very good and very moving. I was so bummed to hear of his suicide.

Can you explain this to me please. I am not saying you're wrong - I just don't really understand what you mean.

Same here. Spaulding was born and lived in RI, and his brother, Channing, has been the long time music critic for the Providence Journal. Watching him do Swimming to Cambodia on stage was a real treat. Steven Soderberg has just finished a documentary about Spaulding Gray.

I'd agree Apocalypse Now simply uses Vietnam as the setting for its reworking of Conrad's tale. However, the mentality that produced the extermination in the Congo and Vietnam differs little, so in that regard, Vietnam does inform Coppola's work.

Kick Ass



WARNING: profanity laced review ahead.

Ebert called this movie offensive and and he is correct. It is almost offensively f*cking awesome!

This is a balls-to-the-wall ultra violent, profanity-filled romp and the most fun I have had in the theater since Inglourious Basterds. I normally respect Ebert, but he so missed the boat on this film you would think he is Armond White. He is worried about the poor little children and what might happen if they see this film. I say, who gives a sh*t. I am an adult. I dont care if the things I like are bad for kids. Keep them the hell away from my ****! I'll keep my porn and I'll keep my Kick-Ass. Let the parents of those kids worry about them.

Not only are there some of the best action scenes in recent cinema, this is one of the funniest films. I laughed far more in this than 99% of the pure comedies. The sickest part is you often laugh at the violence it is so over the top.

There are no comprises in KickAss. It never stops building. Getting more and more over-the-top with each scene and reveling with glee at its depravity. And thank god, it never f*cking tries to apologize for it.

The actors are all great with the exception of Cage who has become a living cartoon and arguably the worst actor, not only of his generation, but perhaps all time. I wish people would stop giving him work. The girl who plays Hit Girl is so good she steals every scene she is in, although sometimes it is hard to watch her in a fight. At times, it reminded me of the Patricia Arquette fight in True Romance.

This is film for adults and thank f*cking god for that!

Grade: A