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Just back from Snow White and the Huntsman. Left me feeling that Kristen Stewart is blessed in some way. No discernible talent, and yet she is incredibly wealthy. Chris Hemsworth's accent was appalling, but if you're not a Jock, you could probably overlook it. Effects were great, and there were interesting elements in the storyline, particularly with the Queen. Not the worst two hours of my life, but not the best either.
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quote:Kristen Stewart is blessed in some way. No discernible talent, and yet she is incredibly wealthy.
Anyone seen Brave yet? I've read good and middling, including one review that just made me (does a character's orientation have to be questioned in everything now?), but heard good from a friend.
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I haven't seen it but was subjected to an extended advert for it by the Scottish Tourist Board at a meeting held by Historic Scotland. Apparently, it's going to make you all want to come and visit Scotland. As if the landscape, history and warm Scottish welcome isn't enough...
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My wife and I saw Brave opening day - loved it. There is a major twist to it that we did not expect, which made the movie both more difficult to watch and more tender and endearing at the same time. The twist pretty much takes over the whole show, and I can see it souring the experience for someone expecting to see a movie about Merideh [from the previews] "not wanting to get married, just wanting to ride her horse with her long red hair floating in the wind, shooting arrows into the sunset".
We will see it again as a family when it hits the dollar theaters.
If you enjoy the spectacle of male Scots in full bloom, you will not go away feeling cheated.
quote:Apparently, it's going to make you all want to come and visit Scotland.
Too late. We all already want to visit Scotland and Ireland and Australia. It'll just increase our desire.
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I saw BRAVE. It was good. The girl kind of annoyed me through most of the movie, but it is a good solid story. Not one of the best Pixars, imo... but it had its moments.
I also saw Mirror Mirror, which was not a movie I was expecting to enjoy... but I did find it entertaining. I enjoyed the quirky humor. I think in places it tried to be a bit like Princess Bride. It doesn't rise to that level of "inconceivable" brilliance... but it does have a few laugh-out-loud moments.
I also saw the Best Exotic Hotel Marigold (or some title like that) movie. It was beautiful and interesting, though I expect it'd be easy to think the message of the film was to be unfaithful to your marital vows, and such, it's really a movie about thinking about how you spend your life, and the burdens and commitments we make and tie ourselves down with, and the dreams we dream. Anyhow it's a lovely film, and the acting is delightful. It's nice to watch a film in which pretty much all the characters you're introduced to evolve and grow over time. Primo acting, but then you'd expect that from Maggie Smith, Judy Dench, and that other lady from DOwnton Abbie, who plays Harriet Jones in the first season of Dr. Who... I forget her name.
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We also saw Brave. Good movie all around - not fantastic but good. I didn't find the story too original. Animation was great.
We also saw Mirror, Mirror. It was okay. In places it was too silly for my tastes as opposed to humorous. Like Ray I liked it a little better than I thought I was going to but our choice to wait for DVD release was appropriate.
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We saw BRAVE last week, Disney / Pixar movies are about the only thing we'll spend the large sum of money to see first run with the entire family.
We all enjoyed it, the animation is amazing.
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I saw the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on Saturday and thought I'd be the first Nauvoodle to post about it, but rayb beat me to the punch. I really enjoyed it. I am a Judi Dench fanatic. Put her in a movie and add Maggie Smith, and I'm there! I read the book from which the screenplay was developed. This is probably the first time I've ever liked a film better than the book.
BTW, the actress from Downton Abbey who played the part of Jean Ainslie is Penelope Wilton.
Posts: 2638 | Registered: Aug 2006
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Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted arrived at our base yesterday. The girls loved it. CrowMan and I found ourselves laughing out loud several times. There was wit for the grown-ups; the type you don't feel embarrassed trying to explain to the young 'uns. The antagonist was out of control, in that unrealistic, cartoon-y way, and there was a gag with an elephant that was played for "ewwwws", but CrowMan and I both admitted we enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.
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Finally saw Avengers, by this time if you haven't seen it you either have no plans to see it or are waiting for the dollar theater. If you have no plans, I'm going to assume you don't like action movies. Because if it's an other reason, I'm thinking there's a misunderstanding.
A most excellent action movie.
Though, I do think it's interesting that I have no recollection of Hulk in any of the three recent movies with Hulk saying some his famous lines from the comic. Like, "Hulk Smash!" (said by Captain America in the Avenger movie, not Hulk), and "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets" (still waiting).
Posts: 11011 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I saw the 3rd Batman movie. I thought it was good. Much less dark than the 2nd movie.
There were a few things I had to just ignore (plot holes, that is), but if you can do that and just root for the good guy, it is a fun movie.
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I heard a review that Batman 3 left people feeling empty and hopeless. "Never before have we made a movie that inflicts so much punishment on the hero and the audience".
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Not really. It was bittersweet for me. I only feel empty because there won't be any more Batman movies.
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quote: I heard a review that Batman 3 left people feeling empty and hopeless. "Never before have we made a movie that inflicts so much punishment on the hero and the audience".
Is that true?
It's not a movie that will blow sunshine up you-know-where, but it is an enjoyable action movie. Ultimately the good guys win, though there is a lot of destruction and pain along the way -- a hard-won kind of victory, and without a parade at the end.
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I personally liked the ending. It was definitely better than the end of Captain America. :-p
I think one of the messages is that even when there is very little hope, if we work together we can overcome great obstacles. It won't be painless, but nothing worthwhile is.
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I had the privilege of seeing 17 Miracles for the first time last week, in the company of 64 youth on a youth temple trip. The film had a massive impact on the youth (not unrelated to being on a week-long temple trip), and caused one young man to seek out his leaders and confess to a major transgression. No one had suspected him, so his confession was entirely voluntary and a result of the Spirit's influence during the film. The other 63 youth found themselves reconsidering their lives and their relationship to Heavenly Father.
The power of God is shown in the fact that the film was not the scheduled activity for the evening. That had fallen through, and the film was only shown because a member of the local ward had a copy of it. It was never intended as a part of the trip, yet it brought a young man out of the shadow of Satan and helped the rest to start stripping away the things of the world that impede their spiritual progress.
quote: I heard a review that Batman 3 left people feeling empty and hopeless. "Never before have we made a movie that inflicts so much punishment on the hero and the audience".
That sure seems like a strange reaction to the ending of the movie. I didn't feel empty and hopeless in the slightest, but rather, quite fulfilled that the evil people were dealt with and that there was great hope that the city and its people would be rising from its ashes. I don't get that review at all.
Scruffydog -- no, I don't think Batman could never create such an impact as the spirit of the Lord working in our youth as occurred around the circumstances of the temple trip and the movie your kids saw. I'm so glad that it had a great impact for them.
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quote: Ultimately the good guys win, though there is a lot of destruction and pain along the way -- a hard-won kind of victory, and without a parade at the end.
That is pretty much how I imagine the end of the world will be. Sounds like the end of the "Harry Potter" films on serious steroids. I call it realistic. At the end of the epic battle, you're just tired. You're happy you don't have to go out anymore, but you're relieved in a tired sort of way. There's just not enough energy for a parade.
Scruffydog, considering all the discussion we've had about "17 Miracles," your take is the best I've heard. Thank you for sharing, and what a wonderful experience for the youth in your area. I'm ashamed to admit I have two copies of the DVD, and haven't watched it yet. I need to change that very soon.
Posts: 4054 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I watched Hugo a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't bad, but it was nothing to rave about. As you can see, I mostly wait until I can watch these movies free from the library, which is usually several months after they come out on DVD. Yeah, I'm a cheap person, but at least I'm a patient one.
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I saw Hugo a couple of weeks ago, too. It was sweet, but I didn't get a whole lot out of it, either. Posts: 2745 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I saw Moonrise Kingdom, too, and both hubby and I loved it! Throughout the whole movie, hubby just kept saying, this is a wierd movie. This is wierd. And I was afraid that he didn't like it. But as we were walking out he said that he liked it *because* it was wierd!
We both did comment that we wish the director hadn't included that sequence where the little boy puts his hands on the little girl. Neither of them needed to be subjected to that. Their love for each other was precious without it.
The thing we both liked the best about it is that the boy and girl both seemed so unaffected, meaning, they were just as awkward as they should have been, not smooth and practiced or mugging like some child actors might have been or might have been directed to do. It just seemed so honest from them.
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Saw Saints and Soldiers 2: Airbourne... something something. It was an interesting war movie, but really, it was um... decent, thoughtful, and felt incomplete. Further it was not evident whether anyone in the movie was LDS, though there was a religious guy--baptist. As if we need anymore movies about baptists. Blah. Good story, though. It was interesting if you like a thoughtful story about how everyone in war is a human being. If you prefer to think of war as good guys against bad guys, then you'll probably not enjoy the movie as much.
ALso saw the Curious Life of Timothy Green, it was cute, about a family that finds out they're infertile, and on the night they're about give up on their hopes of having a baby, they make a wish together and magic happens, namely Timothy. Anyhow it's decent, cute, thoughtful, and nothing overly objectionable--if occasionally quite contrived--and definitely worth seeing on video.
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I have been on a dvd binge in recent weeks. One that I liked was an Iranian film "A Separation"..really profound story on several areas.
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Oo, Nita, I saw a preview for that when I watched In Darkness. I really want to see it.
Speaking of In Darkness, it was Poland's entry for Best Foreign Film Oscar (losing to A Separation). It's an emotional movie of a Polish sewer worker during WWII who helped hide Jews. It was a fascinating movie to me on a lot of levels. The protagonist started out hiding them, hoping to get as much money out of them as he can, but his conscience kicks in. That's pretty typical of some of these movies (Schindler's List). His wife vacillates on whether or not he should be doing this at all. What made this one different was that the Jews in the sewers were three-dimensional characters. They were real people, with real personalities and flaws. Some of them were real jerks. Too often, in these sorts of movies, you don't see that. It was essential for this story.
I finally saw Brave. The animation was superb. The music was magnificent. The story left me so sputtering mad I wanted to scream. Because, at the end, she got her way. What was the big lesson learned? Mom pulled the pole out of her and lightened up. What was the big lesson Merida learned, besides not trusting woodcarving witches? Life is full of things we don't want to do, and duties we must all step up and perform. Giggling with Ma over a tapestry? Please. That's just great Girl Time stuff to do at the end of the day. The relationship got better because, in the end, Ellinor let her daughter have her way. Believe me, I'd love to ride a horse all day and let my long hair get swept back and tangled as I shoot a bow and arrow in lovely scenery. But that's not the way Life works. And she didn't learn it. And then there's Idiot Dad. Really? Could we have any MORE tired cliches? I hated it hated it hated it.
After Brave was The Dark Knight Rises. I stand by my earlier assessment of the end. It wasn't as hard to watch for me as The Dark Knight, but I had a hard time understanding a lot of the dialog, and not just Bane's. (It might have been the theatre sound system, but I've read enough reviews to wonder). Part of it was French Revolution 2.0--will people ever learn? The end was ridiculously contrived, but the last minute or so was ... satisfying. (SPOILERS) I figured out in the first half hour that Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's character would be donning the cowl next, and Marion Cotillard can no longer be in a Christopher Nolan film without us all knowing she will be the baddie. It was kind of jarring to see Anne Hathaway play such an amoral character, but she made it believable, so that was effective casting.
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I didn't like Dark Knight Rises, but my elegant and unscruffy wife loved it. I thought it was mean-spirited and sadistic, while she thought it was a wonderful spectacle and very exciting. I prefer cartoons, I think.
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Wreck-It Ralph is an excellent movie. Took the kids to see it yesterday. Better than I expected. One of the best movies of 2012 (so far). Next up for watching in a theater is the first Hobbit movie.
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We finally watched Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows last Friday. I'll say it's not as good as the first Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock movie, and really had a lot of stuff that made it confusing and difficult to watch.
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We finally got around to inflicting The Lorax on my poor wife (the staunchest conservative of a family of conservatives).
Far, far more liberal/socialist nonsense than what we saw in Seuss' original work.
Most appalling was that the town got together and both verbally and physically assaulted the businessman, both events carried out with a sort of amoral mob mentality, lost in the good musical feelings of togetherness and saving-the-planetness.
Yes indeed, they called him a "greedy dirtbag", and he was beaten with a cane. Such a horrible example to the children that got sent there to get indoctrinated in cornerstones of hating big business and feelin' good about saving the earth.
The barbelute stole every scene in which he appeared.
Posts: 2279 | Registered: Aug 2007
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At the recommendation of my eldest son, my wife and I watched Snowwhite and the Huntsman over the weekend.
Action scenes: formulaic Humor: non-existent Acting: either over the top of wooden Story: cobbled together Visuals: unoriginal
Everything about this movie was lazy: the writing, the directing, the acting. There were the seeds a good film in there, but neither the writer nor the director were had any clue how to use them. Perhaps he was just too distracted by his nubile star.
In any case, don't waste your time on this one.
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A couple very graphic but short battle scenes, and scattered swearing.
Fantastic movie. Daniel Day Lewis was amazing and chose to play Lincoln with far more life and humor to him than I have seen in other movies. Sally Field stayed restrained and didn't go to full on Sally during her tense scenes, which helped keep the scene in the moment and not all about the actress, but the character.
Zillions of high caliber actors...every few seconds at first we were poking each other and saying, "I'd didn't know HE was in this!!"
The 2 1/2 hours flew by and I want to go see it again.
Posts: 4370 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I agree with most of what jlm said regarding Snow White and the Huntsman. I liked the music well enough and I thought the fx were spectacular. But the story just. wasn't. there. I bought into the film for about the first fifteen minutes (and up until that point, thought I'd probably come back and see it again ... it seemed to be going well). And then the huntsman was introduced to the Queen and it just felt like two characters from two completely different words were tossed together. It went from 'possible epic movie' to 'cheap fanfiction' in one second flat.
The sad truth was this film made me angry. There were so many elements that I wanted to see them explore further that were never touched on in depth. For example: their version of the dark forest had only a few creatures that could kill you but its deadliest weapon was a poisonous type of gas that caused hallucinations. I thought that was an interesting twist but they left it hanging there. The huntsman had gone all the way through the forest and survived but we never found out why or how he did this (unless they just thought it was implied that he was drunk and lucky). Another great element was the village with the women. These girls had all scarred themselves, therefore they were no longer paragons of beauty and would be overlooked by the Queen (who only took pretty girls to steal their youth). It was stated that this was their sacrifice and they made it gladly to be able to raise their children in peace. That should have been explored further. And there was all this declaration of Snow being the chosen one. But we're never told how or why this was brought to pass.
Posts: 88 | Registered: May 2006
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Saw Şafak Vakti 2--that's what the movie poster at the mall said--without having seen either Eclipse or Breaking Dawn 1. It left me cold. I wanted a whole heck of a lot more character development, but maybe they did that in the first one.... The actors, a real-life couple and supposed to be portraying the most wonderful love of all time, could not even kiss convincingly. The SFX with Renesmee (or however she spells it) were clever, but kind of creepy. And The Climactic Scene, when it was revealed to be what it was, brought about laughs from a mostly-Turkish audience, and actual yells at the screen from me and some of my neighbors--behavior normally reserved for the previews. Somehow, I'm not sure that was what the director was trying to achieve there. Meh. Go see it with your girlfriends, and have a good time. Wonder if you'd still be on Team Jacob if Ben Barnes had actually been cast as Edward, or if you still wouldn't care.
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Saw Skyfall after a load of hype about it being the best Bond film ever.
It isn't.
The plot has more holes than Darvel lace. I found my attention wandering.
It is beautifully shot, and Daniel Craig is the best Bond in years, but this was not the best ever Bond film.
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