Need New Movie + Video Suggestions

[Andy Velebil]

Social Network
Saw this last night for the first time. While the acting was so-so and I'm sure there were some liberties taken regarding the characters themselves, it was quite an eye opening movie in its portrayals of how this company started and the people who were involved with it in the early days.

[Andrew E]

The I want to stop thinking for a night and watch something pretty movie :
Tron: Legacy
The story isn't Shakespeare, but it's passable and the visuals are just a joy to watch. I highly recommend the Blu Ray version to get every bit of quality out of the visuals as possible. I first watched it in the theater in 3D and really could care less for the third dimension, so feel free to get the non-3D version. The Blu Ray extras like "Flynn Lives" are very thorough too and add about 20 minutes more of fun stuff to watch. Just so you know, when you get to the high scores screen the initials need to be typed in to watch them individually, or type in "ALL" to watch them all consecutively. Also, the soundtrack is almost perfect for the ambiance and adds a lot to the movie.

The modern Indie flick that hearkens back to the classic detective stories a la the Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade, only it takes place in a high school:
Brick
Don't let the high school premise throw you off though as it maintains an adult atmosphere and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt before Inception, 500 Days of Summer, and the future Batman flick Dark Knight Rises. Well acted throughout and good for a classic feel in a modern movie.

[Peter W. Meek]

The King's Speech was very good. Excellent work by great actors. ("If you wait for an apology from a king {with a speech defect}, you may have a long wait.")

I have heard that the release of this movie was delayed until after the death of the "Queen Mum" (played sympathetically by Helena Bonham Carter).

[Eric Menchen]

I agee with Peter, but I also really liked Tron (and the soundtrack by Daft Punk), so take that as you will.

[Peter W. Meek]

We've been watching Rita Hayworth movies recently.

We watched Blood and Sand (1941) w/ Tyrone Power (&RH). (Finishing up a TP boxed set.) A very powerful movie, based on a very powerful book, but slightly wrecked by "Hollywoodization". Rita Hayworth as the "other woman".

Aside from the quality of the movie itself, to me, there was something just a bit "off" about RH. She had the rep, at the time, of being one of the world's sexiest women, but I just couldn't warm up to her. Granted she was playing a vastly unsympathetic character in this movie (and tastes in beauty have changed), but she just didn't seem sexy to me. So, I ordered some more RH movies, trying to understand.

You'll Never Get Rich (1941) w/Fred Astaire (&RH) singing and dancing. Typical wartime/army hijinks as the framework for a musical.
You Never Looked Lovelier (1942) same leads. Now they are involved in a daughters-must-marry-in-order-of-age story (Adolphe Menjou as the heavy father), with still more singing and dancing.

The dancing in both is great. I can believe the critics who claim that RH was a better dance partner than Ginger Rogers; I think RH was more precise and "snappier" than GR. However, RH had no particular chemistry with FA, the way GR had. If I had to rank these two movies along with the FA/GR canon, they would be in the lower third AS ENJOYABLE MOVIES. As dance exhibitions, maybe somewhat higher. Rita Hayworth is lush, but still not sexy, at least to me.

Then Gilda (1946), the standard movie when you think of RH, with RH playing across from Glenn Ford in a movie that can't decide whether it is Film Noir or a romance. It doesn't really succeed as either, IMHO. Not much dancing in this, but some pretty serious "slinking" during the second 'Put The Blame On Mame' number (a great song BTW, and with RH miming plus whoever actually sang it, pretty good entertainment).

BTW, in spite of dynamite lip-synching, RH never really sings a note (nor plays a guitar) in any of these movies. I don't really think she acted much either, but she sure could dance.

Now, why was this woman considered such hot stuff?

[Roy Hersh]

Er, all that cleavage.

[Peter W. Meek]

We've been watching Rita Hayworth movies recently.
{snip}
Now, why was this woman considered such hot stuff?

Er, all that cleavage.

Any reasonably well-endowed woman can display that.
Not all have a rep as sexiest.
Even FEWER have both, but leave me cold.
Puzzling.

Remember: this is the lady that said (approximately), "They go to bed with Gilda; they wake up with me."

[Roy Hersh]

From that era, I prefer Dorothy Lamour:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... CDsQ9QEwBQ

[Roy Hersh]

Went to see SOURCE CODE last night, decent action film, but there's so much here copied from movies past, that it was no better than a solid B.

[Moses Botbol]

Has anyone seen Senna (2010) yet? Waiting for the DVD instead of streaming via NetFlix. Can't wait to see it, but I think I'll be a little choked up. I still feel a lot of emotion when thinking his death. There are a handful of athletes whose passing was emotional to me.

[Andrew E]

Watched Thor a couple of weeks back in 3D because I missed the 2D showing. Let's just say I'm totally sold on never watching, or at least paying for a 3D movie ever again. As for the movie itself it's actually not that bad. The actor playing Thor did pretty well as well as his brother Loki. Natalie Portman was a bit bland but I've never really considered her anything too special. Considering there are so many more movies lined up now for the coming summer I'd only watch Thor if you have no interest or have watched all the other movies.

[Peter W. Meek]

Gnomeo and Juliet

Extremely silly, and also hilarious. Suitable for kids, yet enough jokes that go over their heads to entertain the adults. (We plan to show it for Monday Night at the Movies tomorrow.)

Some nice new music by Elton John as well.

[Roy Hersh]

Excellent suggestion Peter. My daughter was asking us about Romeo and Juliet last night and I assume this has some sort of corollary?

[Peter W. Meek]

Gnomeo and Juliet (revisited.)
It abounds with references to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and to plenty of his other plays. The Bard of Avon even has his own part to play in this movie. Eva was giggling almost uncontrollably through the whole picture. (Glad we watched this at home.)

We re-showed it for Monday Night At The Movies and it was well-received by our usual panel of 'experts'. (Actually, Laurie - whom you have met - really is an expert on the subject of movies. She can call up some amazing amounts of information on movies, old and new.)

Highly recommended for all but the very youngest. (You can't have conflict without a few scary moments.)

[Andrew E]

Xmen: The first class

Well done and mostly well acted. If you've been watching the other movies and liked them, this is one of the better ones.

[Peter W. Meek]

The new Coen Bros version of True Grit is pretty good. Just out on DVD and like the original, quite close to the book. I think I quite like this version better. The original Mattie was just too much of a prig. And JW just didn't cut it as RC.

More to come after showing it as MNATM.

[Peter W. Meek]

The new Coen Bros True Grit was, if anything, an improvement on watching it the second time (third for me). This is a classic-to-be.

[Peter W. Meek]

A money-saving opportunity.

Don't get (or see in a theater) the new Red Riding Hood. From the same director who brought you the Twilight series, but with worse acting, lamer story, and BAD MAKEUP! Eva and I cringed all the way through it. (Ugly werewolf, too.)

Minus-1 stars.

[Melanie R.]

If you like Amelie and/or Audrey Tatou, you might enjoy Happenstance. The universe conspires to bring together (or possibly keep apart?) two soul mates. I enjoyed the theme of the movie and the importance of little details; I don't want to say too much so as not to spoil it for anyone who may watch. It might be slow for some, especially if you aren't into foreign films/subtitles.

[Roy Hersh]

I love Amelie, saw it again (4th or 5th time) two weeks ago and Tatou is fun to watch and darling. Thanks for the reco. WIll definitely check it out when I can find the time. Likely in October.