Movie Release Awareness - December '08 (Ex-Presidents, Aliens, and Wrestlers)

durandal4532

So "Slumdog Millionaire" was really good. Also, it makes all other misfit-sports-team/rags-to-riches stories seem like complete wusses.

thorpe

Sentry wrote: »

werehippy wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

werehippy wrote: »

noir_blood wrote: »

Cherrn wrote: »

So, Let the Right One In is apparently one of the best movies of the year. I thought it was some tween horseshit Twilight cash-in, but after seeing several people call it the best vampire movie ever made, I'm interested.

You'd think it'd premiere here, since it's a Swedish movie, but I guess not.

I loved that movie, and I would hurt you so bad if I could for even comparing it to Twilight. I don't know if it's top ten material(simply because there were so many good movies this year), but it's quite a neat little vampire movie.

Though I also didn't like The Dark Knight much, despite some really amazing bits, because I thought the plot holes were glaring and just sloppy, so maybe I'm not the person to ask these things.

I. WILL. EAT. YOUR. SOUL-L-L-L-L-L!

It's not my fault! I want to love it, because Ledger is amazing and there are some great scenes, but the plot just has so many stupid, unnecessary holes in it!

Spoiler:

Like the part where Jokers escape from the police station could have been stopped by the simple precaution of NOT locking a cop in a cell with the lunatic.

Or when the Joker is chasing Dent in the police car and they randomly pull out of the tunnel and there just happens to be one of Joker's henchmen in just the right place to bring down the helicopter that comes by.

Or after that when batman decides not to hit the Joker on his bike he decides to wreck instead of just, for example, driving around him and then coming back to kick his ass.

And so on.

Your reasons for not liking The Dark Knight reek of someone who was looking for a reason to not like the Dark Knight. Just letting you know.

On a different topic... I actually kind of enjoyed The Spirit. It didn't take itself seriously at all, and that really made it watchable.

I couldn't stand The Spirit even in that way. It felt to me like it was first written at least semi-seriously, and then partway through filming Miller realized how awful it was going to be and tried to inject some campy humor into it. I think it may very well be the most egregiously offensive, stupid piece of shit I have ever had the misfortune to experience.

Sentry

my standards were lowered by poor reviews... but I didn't take it seriously for even a minute. I can kind of see where you are coming from though. Still, I'm actually embarrassed by how much I enjoyed it.

DarkWarrior

Sentry wrote: »

werehippy wrote: »

DarkWarrior wrote: »

werehippy wrote: »

noir_blood wrote: »

Cherrn wrote: »

So, Let the Right One In is apparently one of the best movies of the year. I thought it was some tween horseshit Twilight cash-in, but after seeing several people call it the best vampire movie ever made, I'm interested.

You'd think it'd premiere here, since it's a Swedish movie, but I guess not.

I loved that movie, and I would hurt you so bad if I could for even comparing it to Twilight. I don't know if it's top ten material(simply because there were so many good movies this year), but it's quite a neat little vampire movie.

Though I also didn't like The Dark Knight much, despite some really amazing bits, because I thought the plot holes were glaring and just sloppy, so maybe I'm not the person to ask these things.

I. WILL. EAT. YOUR. SOUL-L-L-L-L-L!

It's not my fault! I want to love it, because Ledger is amazing and there are some great scenes, but the plot just has so many stupid, unnecessary holes in it!

Spoiler:

Like the part where Jokers escape from the police station could have been stopped by the simple precaution of NOT locking a cop in a cell with the lunatic.

Or when the Joker is chasing Dent in the police car and they randomly pull out of the tunnel and there just happens to be one of Joker's henchmen in just the right place to bring down the helicopter that comes by.

Or after that when batman decides not to hit the Joker on his bike he decides to wreck instead of just, for example, driving around him and then coming back to kick his ass.

And so on.

Your reasons for not liking The Dark Knight reek of someone who was looking for a reason to not like the Dark Knight. Just letting you know.

On a different topic... I actually kind of enjoyed The Spirit. It didn't take itself seriously at all, and that really made it watchable.

The Joker didn't need to escape. His plan would've more than likely succeeded without him, killing one of the two, he on the other hand could've escaped in a fairly open time window as long as the nutso guy remained and he was able to get a phone call. Its hinted that he goaded Batman into the confrontation to give himself a weapon to use later.

It takes a lot of pre-planning and plan upon plan but thats the fun part, the guy without the plan has the most complex, free-form plan around.

Mattie

Taramoor wrote: »

Mattie wrote: »

randombattle wrote: »

PantsB wrote: »

Taramoor wrote: »

Saw this trailer in front of The Day the Earth Stood Still

Spoiler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvUxdQ4q-Lg

How did I not know that there was a new movie in the "Liam Neeson: Ultimate Badass" genre coming out?

I would like to subscribe to that movies newsletter.

Jan 30? I'm surprised this is the first I've heard of it

Honestly what more could anyone ever want in a movie beyond Liam Neeson kicking the shit out of everyone and being bad ass?

I saw that movie a few weeks ago. Either there was an early European release or the Asian mall I bought it from sold me a pirated version. It is a badass movie, basically Commando with Liam Neeson.

If there was ever any chance I wouldn't see this movie, that right there demolished it.

Also, the movie apparently came out in Europe months ago and is only now reaching the US.

You must be insane.

Taramoor

Mattie wrote: »

Taramoor wrote: »

Mattie wrote: »

randombattle wrote: »

PantsB wrote: »

Taramoor wrote: »

Saw this trailer in front of The Day the Earth Stood Still

Spoiler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvUxdQ4q-Lg

How did I not know that there was a new movie in the "Liam Neeson: Ultimate Badass" genre coming out?

I would like to subscribe to that movies newsletter.

Jan 30? I'm surprised this is the first I've heard of it

Honestly what more could anyone ever want in a movie beyond Liam Neeson kicking the shit out of everyone and being bad ass?

I saw that movie a few weeks ago. Either there was an early European release or the Asian mall I bought it from sold me a pirated version. It is a badass movie, basically Commando with Liam Neeson.

If there was ever any chance I wouldn't see this movie, that right there demolished it.

Also, the movie apparently came out in Europe months ago and is only now reaching the US.

You must be insane.

You think I'm insane for wanting to see what amounts to a hybrid of Commando and Death Wish, only it stars Liam Neeson?

You, sir, are a fool.

meatflower

UnknownSaint wrote: »

meatflower wrote: »

Just got back from Doubt and I give it a resounding meh.

I read somewhere (maybe in this thread) that at least the ending was satisfying. Clearly that person has a completely different perception of closure than I do, because the entire film (and especially the ending) really left me wanting.

Eh, I mentioned that I really liked the ending. I'm guessing you're probably the type of person that hated the ending to No Country, eh?

Spoiler:

Seriously though, a lot of the movie is about ambiguity and not knowing for sure, I think it would have been a happy little copout for you to find out if Flynn was guilty. Moreover, the direction it took Meryl Streep's character was really interesting to me. Here we have the total relentless and aggressive pillar of the movie and at the end she's a blubbering mess in front of the most innocent character. This wasn't closure as far as content of the story goes, but it was closure in terms of the message

Still haven't seen No Country (and I have little excuse since it's on the instant queue at this very moment) so I'll have to get back to you.

Spoiler:

I wasn't feeling a whole lot of doubt based on what we were shown as to whether or not Flynn was guilty. It was true that he had moved around three times in the last five years, it was also pretty obvious that Mr. McGine was told what to say after Flynn's initially confronted and tries to use the wine story as his alibi. Along with him caving after Meryl Streep told him she had spoken to one of the nuns at his previous church, I was pretty convinced.

I dunno, I read what you said before going in and maybe that gave me an expectation that something was going to ultimately come of it all. When they showed the opening shot again at the end, before the final courtyard scene, I was pretty much expecting the altar boys to show up for the morning mass and find Flynn had hung himself in the rectory.

In retrospect I see how totally out of character that would be for a Catholic.

Doxa

meatflower wrote: »

UnknownSaint wrote: »

meatflower wrote: »

Just got back from Doubt and I give it a resounding meh.

I read somewhere (maybe in this thread) that at least the ending was satisfying. Clearly that person has a completely different perception of closure than I do, because the entire film (and especially the ending) really left me wanting.

Eh, I mentioned that I really liked the ending. I'm guessing you're probably the type of person that hated the ending to No Country, eh?

Spoiler:

Seriously though, a lot of the movie is about ambiguity and not knowing for sure, I think it would have been a happy little copout for you to find out if Flynn was guilty. Moreover, the direction it took Meryl Streep's character was really interesting to me. Here we have the total relentless and aggressive pillar of the movie and at the end she's a blubbering mess in front of the most innocent character. This wasn't closure as far as content of the story goes, but it was closure in terms of the message

Still haven't seen No Country (and I have little excuse since it's on the instant queue at this very moment) so I'll have to get back to you.

Spoiler:

I wasn't feeling a whole lot of doubt based on what we were shown as to whether or not Flynn was guilty. It was true that he had moved around three times in the last five years, it was also pretty obvious that Mr. McGine was told what to say after Flynn's initially confronted and tries to use the wine story as his alibi. Along with him caving after Meryl Streep told him she had spoken to one of the nuns at his previous church, I was pretty convinced.

I dunno, I read what you said before going in and maybe that gave me an expectation that something was going to ultimately come of it all. When they showed the opening shot again at the end, before the final courtyard scene, I was pretty much expecting the altar boys to show up for the morning mass and find Flynn had hung himself in the rectory.

In retrospect I see how totally out of character that would be for a Catholic.

The thing about that movie for me was

Spoiler:

For awhile I was sort of doubtful of what really happened. Though the longer I thought it was clear there was definitely something going on that was out of step with regular rules. The fact that Flynn was being secretive about it does not validate Streep's suspicions. Same with the nun "call". It just means there is something in his past he is trying to avoid from being made into a public embarrassment and any public embarrassment was thought of to be the end of a parish.

In the end Flynn was acting for the welfare of the parish, while Streep was acting for the sake of her righteousness/god/rules. Sort of how Streep didn't really care about the welfare of the boy, she only cared about things being done by the rules. In the end when Streep finds out Flynn was promoted her faith/conviction is shaken because of good things happening to Flynn and according to the Bible those things weren't suppose to happen if what he did was truly evil. That's what I drew from it myself.

UnknownSaint

Doxa's interpretation is a little bit closer to mine, but not entirely.

Spoiler:

It very much remains unclear if he was guilty or not. It doesn't flat out say it, but it's left to the audience to understand that even an accusation would really fuck him over, and Streep is threatening to put it out in the open just like that. The thing about her character is that it's just as noble as it is despicable to be so unshakable, so the ending kind of closes that circle with her. She very well may have seized upon something much more harmless in his past and tried to ruin him for it, so we're left with two sort of options at the very end. Either he was guilty and the bastard gets a promotion and she pretty much destroyed herself for nothing and isn't even left with the satisfaction that she did the right thing - which is totally awesome. Or he was innocent and she gets what's coming to her for being the way she was, while he moves on to a better, and probably much friendlier job where he's in a greater position to reform things the way he wants to, completely undermining THAT whole aspect of why she wanted to end him as well.

Seriously, at first glance the ending is incomplete, but when you realize it was intentional and not just lazy, you'll see there's quite a bit of meaning to it. Give it another chance, it's a really good movie with a great ending.

One little point of debate re: the end though...

Spoiler:

Does it hint that Meryl Streep's character will resign as a result of this? A few things she says to Amy Adams at the end there, and the way she hides her crucifix as she talked about her lie kind of led me to believe that, but a buddy of mine said it didn't really go that way at all. I don't think it flat out said anything about it, but did anyone else have similar impressions?

TehSpectre

I saw Marley and Me last night and cried many big manly tears.

I would also like to point out that I have never been to a movie where everyone in the theater was crying.

Doxa

UnknownSaint wrote: »

One little point of debate re: the end though...

Spoiler:

Does it hint that Meryl Streep's character will resign as a result of this? A few things she says to Amy Adams at the end there, and the way she hides her crucifix as she talked about her lie kind of led me to believe that, but a buddy of mine said it didn't really go that way at all. I don't think it flat out said anything about it, but did anyone else have similar impressions?

well...here's what I got from the closing(Doubt)

Spoiler:

I thought the way she clung to her cross at the ending was sort of an attempt to reaffirm her faith within herself, trying to justify what she did was for the better, but because she clung so tightly she damaged it (her faith). It signaled that Streep had now entered a struggle within herself. It showed that even in Streep's unyielding pursuit she was still shaken by the ordeal. It sort of humanized her. I don't think it was a sign that she was going to resign.

edit: oh and I saw Slumdog Millionaire. Very excellent.

noir_blood

One more week and I get to see the Wrestler!

UnknownSaint

Went to Frost/Nixon last night. I had very high expectations, and it mostly met them. Could have been better, but definitely wasn't bad. I wouldn't be disappointed to see Langella get best actor for it, he was fantastic.

Aridhol

The Wrestler was excellent.

Kalkino

Has anyone seen the new Che film? I am wondering whether or not to go see it today - there is a double bill with parts one and two

Kalkino

Kalkino wrote: »

Has anyone seen the new Che film? I am wondering whether or not to go see it today - there is a double bill with parts one and two

So, I went to see this - there was a special New Year's Day double bill and while nearly 5 hours of Che could be said to be too much Che, it was still pretty enjoyable - go see it!

Kyougu

The Wrestler is an amazing movie. I'm not sure how it plays to a non-wrestling fan, but as a wrestling fan it hits you specially hard.

Amazing, amazing movie. Also fucking depressing.

TehSpectre

I'll get to work on the new Movie Release thread tonight or tomorrow.

<3

Shamus

durandal4532 wrote: »

So "Slumdog Millionaire" was really good. Also, it makes all other misfit-sports-team/rags-to-riches stories seem like complete wusses.

:^:

I think I might go see it again.

Lux

Has anyone seen Synecdoche, New York? I didn't dislike the film, but I can see now why they had such a hard time finding someone to distribute it. It is probably Kaufman's least accessible film yet, but has a lot of great moments.