Movies

[The_Scientist]

After seeing Nothing and Cube, FG and I decided to make it a Vingenzo Natali weekend and go see Splice in a real theater.  It has a semi-scientific plot, so I wanted to see it in any case.

Clive and Elsa are rock stars in a brave new world of genetic manipulation where entirely new organisms can be created by mixing and matching genes from many different species.  When their investors want them to show some profit finally, they get antsy and do a rogue experiment using human DNA.  Of course the experiment has unexpected results and produces a weirdly sexy alien babe who will eventually turn on her creators.

It's all quite ludicrous scientifically, but it doesn't really matter.  The key to making a good genre picture is to distract the audience away from the fact that it's a genre picture.  If all you do is mechanically produce the right notes, you may please the fanboys but no one else.  If you push the boundaries and ambitiously try to transcend the limits, you could bring in the arthouse crowd and piss off the hardcore, or just lose everybody.  Natali has a gift for distracting in this way without losing sight of the schlock at the core of his movies.  Given his first chance to work with A-list stars and a studio budget he delivers a polished product with very good CGI and photography.  Look for it on DVD or On Demand.

[geonuc]

Saw Machete today. What a movie! Lots of gratuitous and absurd violence and naked women (including Lindsey Lohan), but it's meant to be both a parody of an action film and a political statement on immigration issues. Whatever it is, it was pretty entertaining.

[Jmolinari]

Inception. It just blew my mind.

[The_Scientist]

Out of my sense of obligation and my darling loving wife's indulgence, we went to see Nowhere Boy.  I came away a little conflicted, maybe because the market for John Lennon biographies is so saturated.
Only Elvis and Frank Sinatra can compete with Lennon for hagiography, but it doesn't stop writers and filmmakers from churning out more.  What's there left to say?

This version centers on his late teens, when he first became fascinated with rock 'n roll, learned to play, started his first band and met McCartney.  If you know anything about his background, you know all of the details of his unusual family life and the tragedies that befell him.  Aaron Johnson in the lead role doesn't look or sound much like Lennon, although he does get the teenage bravado and posturing that Lennon had by all accounts.  Kristen Scott-Thomas is great as his Aunt Mimi, what could have been a thankless role as the stern but well-intentioned guardian.  His needy, unstable mother Julia could hardly be more different, but the movie makes the case that Lennon needed both of them to become the artist who conquered the world.  It's not a new insight, but it's a well-made period piece with songs of the time recorded probably more proficiently than the originals but otherwise faithfully.  In Spite of All the Danger sounds quite like the real one from Anthology.

[KoPP]

Damn, TCM has the old "The Producers" on - wish I would have scheduled the DVR.

[Minerva]

Damn, TCM has the old "The Producers" on - wish I would have scheduled the DVR.

I finally broke down and ordered a copy from Amazon. It's on my All Time Top 10 list.

[KoPP]

Going to try to watch Green Hornet and/or The King's Speech this weekend. I'm more interested in King, but the hype around Hornet (and I love the Bruce Lee fight scenes in the series) might push it into the other direction.

[Girly]

Going to try to watch Green Hornet and/or The King's Speech this weekend. I'm more interested in King, but the hype around Hornet (and I love the Bruce Lee fight scenes in the series) might push it into the other direction.

I'm deciding between King's Speech and Black Swan. I've been watching nothing but kid movies lately and I need some "R" ratings in my life!

[Girly]

King's Speech - loved it! Great performances, story, etc. If you're worried about taking a younger teen (or tween) because of the R rating, it's nothing but a few Fbombs - probably less than they hear at school

True Grit - not so much. I loved the prose and it made me want to read the book. And the girl actress really rocked. But overall, I've seen better.

Still haven't seen Black Swan, but it's next on my list if I can convince my SIL it's a ROM-COM 

[AndyBoy]

We saw King's Speech last weekend and I thought it was an excellent movie. Without the great acting, directing and wardrobe it could have bombed big time.

[The_Scientist]

FG and I saw Black Swan last weekend. Darren Aronovsky is a dazzling director, with so many tricks in his bag that his movies always pop off the screen. He also has a fondness for high drama that sometimes becomes a parody of itself. Pi and Requiem for a Dream were fabulous because they walked the tightrope and finished strong. His other movies didn't quite work that way.

I would rank this one just behind Requiem. Natalie Portman was a perfect choice for the lead, and she may as well start composing her Oscar acceptance right now because she's going to win. It's exactly the sort of bait Academy voters eat up: well-known actress in a prestige picture with artsy pretention playing a glamorous but fragile character who unravels emotionally, and looks good doing it. Plus there's hot girl-on-girl action. I prefer one of each myself, but I hear there are some who like that sort of thing. 

[KoPP]

Watched Rango after a decent meal at Dai Loi. I really wish that people would make at least a half-assed attempt to research the movies you take your tots to. Most of the audience was under 7. And this really isn't a movie for 7 year olds, unless they read the WSJ.

Excellent play on the spaghetti westerns (and the surprise 'cameo' is pretty funny), but this has some pretty snappy patter, and gets a lot of it's humor from the adult side of things. A mom was laughing more than the kids she was herding.

If your kid can watch Bulwinkle and get some of the adult humor, then by all means. If they're wanting My Pretty Pony, sorry.

[KoPP]

Been watching Bollywood movies lately, and they've been better and better. Bride and Prejudice was the latest - actually, it was better than a lot of the Hollywood flicks on the premium channels. And the wimmen are soooooo beautiful...

[Larkemon]

Have you seen The Guru?  Heather Graham + Bollywood = Best of both worlds

[KoPP]

Have you seen The Guru?  Heather Graham + Bollywood = Best of both worlds

Nope - I'll dig it out on On Demand.

I really don't want to go to jury duty this morning...