Need New Movie + Video Suggestions

[Eric Menchen]

Maradona: The Hand of God (2007)

I smile just at the title.

[Moses Botbol]

Tyson (2009): Really good documentary on the boxing legend, told through Iron Mike himself. Really no holds barred and quite candid about his life’s up’s and down’s. Tyson is one of my favorite athletes of all times and someone I really admired for his boxing talent. Anyone who is a boxing fan or wants to know more about one of the most interesting American athletes ever, this movie is a must.

[Roy Hersh]

I have not seen a non-kids movie in the theater in half a year. This is the first time in my adult life that I can say that. By now, I've usually seen 10-25 in the first 10 mos. of just about every year.

Heck, I finally just saw ... Marlee and me on cable.

[Glenn E.]

I watched 4.5 movies on the flight home from Paris:

Ice Age 3: same old, same old. The first one was the best, but this one was easily worth watching on the plane.
Transformers 2: Meh. Not as good as the first one, and I didn't like the first one all that much. The Transformers take too long to transform (presumably so that they can cram in more CG effects while they do it) and I've always thought that Optimus Prime is a wimp.
Terminator Salvation: Not as bad as I'd heard, but it is true that Sam Worthington steals the show. I hadn't read anything about the plot, but still managed to figure out almost instantly that Worthington's character was the prototype T-800. Then again, it's basically fed to you with a baseball bat, terminator-style.
The Hangover: better than expected at times, about like I expected at others. Which isn't saying much, because I expected it to be pretty bad. Not really a thriller, a comedy, or a drama... but a blend of all three.
Watchmen: I think I only got about halfway through this, because nothing much had happened by the time we landed. The setup and character introduction was keeping me reasonably interested, though, so that's probably a good sign for the rest of the movie. I've never read the original comic.

MOTF: a toss-up between Ice Age 3 and Terminator Salvation. I enjoyed both, so it would depend on my mood.

[Eric Menchen]

Ahhh, airplane movies. I recently saw a bunch of these.
Terminator Salvation - I had low expectations, and thus found it enjoyable on the plane.
The Hangover - Also low expectations, and surprisingly funny. Probably best watched with a group while consuming Port or other alcohol.
State of Play - O.k., but mostly because I used to live in DC. Otherwise you might not like it as much.
The Soloist - I recommend this one. I thought it gave a very interesting perspective. I guess it was my MOTF.

[Andy Velebil]

The Hangover - Also low expectations, and surprisingly funny. Probably best watched with a group while consuming Port or other alcohol.

Saw that on the plane going to Portugal this month too. I laughed all the way through it. I'm sure it would be even funnier after a few glasses and a group of friends around watching it

[Glenn E.]

The Hangover - Also low expectations, and surprisingly funny. Probably best watched with a group while consuming Port or other alcohol.

Saw that on the plane going to Portugal this month too. I laughed all the way through it. I'm sure it would be even funnier after a few glasses and a group of friends around watching it

It did make me smile a few times, but I was a bit thrown off by the blending in of the occasional thriller bits. The gunfight at the wedding chapel is one good example - it was staged too seriously. (Eddie? Seriously? C'mon, that guy's name should have been Kenny, and the line after he was shot should have been "OMG! They killed Kenny!" Duh. Then it might have been funny.)

I'm positive it would have been funnier had I been drunk, but Air France doesn't serve Port in cattle car class.

[Peter W. Meek]

I'd give positives on State of Play, IceAge3, as well as Duplicity.

Old movies recently watched and enjoyed:
Suspect1987 formulaic but pretty good
Blues Brothers 1980 still can't beat the chase/wreck scene
Hobson's Choice 1954 I tend to forget how good British character actors were
Last Man Standing 1996 Bruce Willis getting dirty and bloody again in the most recent remake of the Kurosawa classic Yojimbo (also remade as Fistful of Dollars originally based on Hammett's "Red Harvest".)

[Moses Botbol]

Botany of Desire - interesting documentary on how we've manipulated certain plants/vegetables to our benefit. Tulips, Marijuana, and Potatoes are some of the plants covered and just a brillant execution of the subject manner. Very fascinating with awesome HD filming. Available on Blu-ray and occasionally on PBS.

[Roy Hersh]

The Messenger is a film that I highly recommend, although not a great flick, it is captivating and embarks on a very different ride through the minefield of returning from war. Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster wind up as unlikely partners. Harrelson's character is a lifer in the Army, now doing service stateside, a troubled man who keeps his cards and emotions locked in tightly. Foster's character is much more open and volatile initially, recently back from serious traumatic experience in the live theater of Iraq. Now they are to work side by side, Harrelson the senior officer and Foster learning the ropes. They work for the Casualty Notification Service, basically going door to door, to let parents/spouses and other loved ones know that their soldier has been killed in action. Not a fun job and one we learn more about in vivid detail. There is an interesting love interest that brews during the film, but that is best kept under wraps as one of the many twists this film takes. Sensitive, raw, powerful and gut wrenching ... this film may not be for everyone, albeit there's not a single battle scene nor serious violent scene depicted.

[Moses Botbol]

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

A loan officer gets cursed by a gypsy whose gets foreclosed. One of Sam Raimi's best movies with an awesome and unexpected story line; you’ll be on edge the whole movie!

[Roy Hersh]

Tiger Woods' new movie is out: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hydrant.

[Peter W. Meek]

In another thread we are discussing "Why don't more women drink port?"

Should we consider in this thread: "Why do port drinkers seem to like horror movies?"

[Roy Hersh]

The Tesseract (2003) was on TV last night and I had never heard of this film before. Subtitled as the Thai language is spoken the vast majority of the movie. This is a wild ride and brilliantly spun, a pre-cursor to the genre where diverse characters and happenings converge, in this case the common thread is a hotel and a young boy. Fantastic and not easy to predict. Lots of forward and backward views in this film make it a bit erratic, for those that like it plain and simple ... go elsewhere. Two thumbs way up. See if you can catch this on the Sundance Channel or give it a rent.

[Peter W. Meek]

The Tesseract (2003)...

Speaking of which, this is the best depiction of a tesseract (hypercube, 4-dimensional cube) in 2-d that I've run into:



It makes a nice avatar for the hyperspacially-minded.

(Just ordered the movie; looks interesting.)

[Roy Hersh]

Cool image Peter. Thanks, as I had no idea what that word meant.

Onto another film!

I've always been a huge fan of the extraordinarily talented young actress, Natalie Portman, ever since her performance in Leon ... aka, The Professional back in 1994, a great vintage and she was actually 13 at the time. Amazing character portrayal, unforgettable actually. Tonight I saw her in a latter but equally great role in Garden State, alongside a talented Peter Sarsgaard. This movie is not without some angular spots with Zach Braff in his directorial debut, but Portman steals the show in a movie that delivers sincerity and innocence that both Nat and Sarsgaard handled beautifully with significant chemistry between them. My 3rd time watching this, but there's something very real to this adventurous film that keeps it fresh.

[Peter W. Meek]

Leon was a great movie, with stellar performances from all three stars. Unfortunately the next NP movie I saw was Mr Magorium's Magic Emporium which was so awful I haven't tried any other NP movies.

[Roy Hersh]

Peter,

Be fair, although I saw that movie too (with my daughter) it was made for 5-10 year olds. Not surprisingly, you were not as amused as you may have thought before seeing it. I can understand those that rightfully say that NP was not the perfect choice for her portrayal of the Queen in the Star Wars' trio but she's done other fine films. Off the top of my head, "V" comes to mind and also CLOSER which was superb.

[Glenn E.]

I can understand those that rightfully say that NP was not the perfect choice for her portrayal of the Queen in the Star Wars' trio

I don't think that NP was a problem in the Star Wars trio. Lucas's deliberate production of the films from the outset to be merchandising vehicles was the main problem, followed by his less-than-Spielbergian directing ability.

[Roy Hersh]

NP was "wooden" in that role. Whether or not that is how she was asked to perform, who knows? Given her other portrayals on film, I would have to believe that was the case. Regardless, I was not impressed with that work, even though I enjoyed the films overall.