The Movie Topic (films recently watched, general discussion, etc)

[black coffee]

Watched Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis last night. French humor can be rather weird, but it was a nice movie overall.

Also watched Catfish a couple days ago, absolutely recommendable! Before I give away any crucial information - It is about a facebook friendship and how it turns out in the end. Not sure if it's fake, but nevertheless the story itself is believable and I could imagine that something like this happened before.

[bright lights, big city]

It hasn't been released in Europe either. It's available to download though

ahh, DUH! smart guy...

[theis]

Ha!

Btw, I also watched this documentary called "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father".

Probably the most devastating doc I've ever seen. Highly recommended.

You can watch it here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dear-zachary-a-letter-to-a-son-about-his-father/

[bright lights, big city]

i love docs. i got some time later today, so i'll definitely check it!

[lukas989]

Just watched a couple:

The Girl Next Door, based on Jack Ketchums novel - pretty grim to say the least...basically the tale of a guy looking back to when he was young, where next door (hence the title...hey I just got that!) 2 sisters move in with their strangely relaxed aunt who has 2 boys of her own - relaxed in the sense, that all the kids from the neighbourhood are allowed to go round her house and drink her beer.  I wont spoil too much but essentially the aunts view of women is entirely...fucked up in a nutshell,and she begins mentally and physically torturing the sisters (in particular the elder), calling upon the assistance of her sons and the boys from the neighbourhood in doing so. 

And Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson - Im sure a bunch of you have seen it, but well worth watching if you havent - Ive missed Mel as an actor, he always seems to thrive in roles where he plays a no nonsense, take no shit type character (a la lethal weapon obviously) and this carries that baton well - his daughter is shot in front of him, and being a cop its naturally assumed she was mistakenly shot instead of him.  Upon investigating it turns out she had many a secret of her own...cue the onslaught of revelation and action.

[theis]

Dogtooth - 0/10

Complete and utter garbage.

[bright lights, big city]

Ha!

Btw, I also watched this documentary called "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father".

Probably the most devastating doc I've ever seen. Highly recommended.

You can watch it here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dear-zachary-a-letter-to-a-son-about-his-father/

devastating is the perfect word to describe that. wow, one minute I would be crying my eyes, then the next just filled with anger, then back and forth for the whole 90 minutes. dear god, i was really pissed at Canada by the end, or I guess especially Newfoundland.

Dogtooth - 0/10

Complete and utter garbage.

or was it so despicable and weird that it's a 10/10?!?

[theis]

When I watched the doc I never saw "it" coming from a thousand miles. So tragic.

Damn, the grandparents are incredible people.

Glad you watched it!

Have you seen Dogtooth? I love weird stuff but this was just pointless.

[bright lights, big city]

no not yet, I was tempted to go buy it, but now I've got my doubts. I just remember reading about the story a couple weeks ago, and it sounded delightfully messed up, haha.

[theis]

It is messed up, but it's just completely random with odd scenes and it's boooring. I hated it. Selling it tomorrow, haha.

[blixa]

i liked dogtooth.

last night i watched hard candy. now i understand why people were so divided about it. i thought both the leads were douchebags. i was mad at both of them. with the scene that made everyone squeemish, i wish it had actually happened. i just thought it was pointless after i realised what i thought had gone down hadn't gone down. i did like the story about aunt denise that frank told when he was on the table. but you never know with pedophiles, do you?

watched taxi driver this morning. brilliant. i loved it so much. i loved scorsese's two cameo's. the exchange of the two characters in the taxi was mesmerising. keitel was super disturbing. when he was hugging and dancing with iris and saying that stuff...man, that freaked me out.

[lukas989]

slow and crap I am I know - but just saw Avatar, which although I watched through the tinted glasses of my flashy tv and the fact it was on blu ray - I really enjoyed.   Way less disappointing than Independence Day.

[chick de la lynch]

I'm slower than you -- I still haven't seen Avatar. @Mariam - Glad you loved Taxi Driver, but I knew you would anyway. Apparently it's supposed to be celebrating it's 35 year anniversary and some local theaters are going to be playing it. I might go see it.

Last weekend I saw Rosemary's Baby which was fantastic. I'm only acquainted with Mia Farrow's acting during the time period she was canoodling with Woody Allen, so this was a totally different Farrow from what I'm used to. She was cute, bubbly and extremely naive. I had no idea Ruth Gordon was in this film until after the movie. I also had no idea she could be creepy. Overall, I loved the film.  It went at a perfect pace, and you had nothing but sympathy for Rosemary.

Last night I finally watched The Social Network. I have to say, I liked Jesse Eisenberg in this, and in a weird way, I actually liked his character. Part of that reason is because you feel bad for him. It's obvious he's socially awkward to the point where you believe this kid might have Asperger's Syndrome. He was the right amount of asshole. Some actor's go overboard, but Eisenberg didn't overpower too much. It was a subtle performance, which was believable and like I mentioned before, kind of likable. However Andrew Garfield stole the movie, and it's a damn shame he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. The score was catchy, too. Do I think this was the best movie of 2010? Eh. I enjoyed watching it, but it didn't leave me with the same feeling as did Inception. Like Black Swan, The Social Network is more noted for the acting and the score rather than the film itself.

[lukas989]

speaking of Andrew Garfield - I seen an interview with him on breakfast tv there a while back talking about Never Let Me Go, and becoming the new Spiderman.  Hes a funny sort of guy - a weird combo of confidence and uneasiness - like Hugh Grant meets Woody Allen if you can imagine that.  Anyway - the new Spiderman...interesting.

[chick de la lynch]

Go figure I like the awkward actors. I've loved him since I saw Boy A. He was fantastic in that film, and I really want to see Never Let Me Go. I can see him bringing a lot to the new Spiderman.

[blixa]

i'm actually looking forward to never let me go. i'm glad i read the book 2 years ago. great subject matter. it's going to be a sad movie. the book was sad.

andrew garfield was in the first installment of the red riding trilogy. he was exceptional in that. you should all check it out if you like him.

[lukas989]

Yup - Red Riding is forthcoming....bumped it up my Lovefilm list - originally its on there cos I found out ol' Paddy Considines in it - but hey plenty of room for more fine actors.  By the by - I dont work for Lovefilm or anything, I just love that I never again will I buy a dvd or a blu ray.  Saving myself at least 5 quid a month.  Speaking of which, I was in HMV today, just cos well my missus was trying stuff on and anything to avoid standing alone staring in a womens clothes store.  Most of the gosh darn cds at 15-17 quid in there....no wonder the foo's are going down the toilet.

[blixa]

ohhhhhh, paddy is so good. i don't think there's anything he can't do. he's in the 1980 episode. maxine peake is in it too. she's so underrated as an actress. the trilogy also introduced me to david morrissey, who is a bit of a bad arse.

we have jb hi-fi here and it's a godsend. i love that place so much. good prices too.

[chick de la lynch]

I watched a couple films this weekend.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - I think this film came out just as Marilyn Monroe's career was taking off. Even though Monroe is known for her "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" routine, it's Jane Russell (R.I.P) who really steals the show. This is my second Howard Hawks' film and once again you see a very intelligent, sexy, feisty, independent woman dominate the screen. If Hawks was able to do this before women could be witty and independent, then why aren't many films, especially romantic comedies, doing it now? It's depressing. Anyway, this film was hilarious and Jane Russell pwned in this movie.

M - Yeah, this film was utterly depressing. What film isn't when it comes to dealing with pedophilia though? It was beautifully made and Peter Lorre was perfect playing this creepy murderer. I think this film also brings up the idea of vigilantism. In film and television it's an interesting thing to see, but it's not realistic. No one wins when there is vigilantism. I loved the ending. It was so haunting and yet those final words brought about so much truth.

[blixa]

i love movies about pedophiles. i'm going to check it out. thanks, heaven.