not to post twice in a row, but...

Saw Doubt today. Unlike others, I have seen the play. I thought the film was absolutely brilliant... spot-on with the play and yet well adapted to the screen to allow for good pacing. It is (obviously) anything but an action film... so things move slowly, but they move at the right pace. it's a good film to look at--not so much because of the scenery or anything, but the angles are pretty much nailed to give the best view(s) for the scene or person. I personally have no qualms with the acting job of anyone in the film. I thought that each character was portrayed as they were supposed to be.

One of the real joys is seeing how the movie adapts things from the play and fleshes them out. The play only has four people in it-- all other characters are merely hinted at in dialog. With the film, of course, most of the characters are seen. It would be easy to mess up those characters, but they ended up being just as hinted at in the play.

Anyway, I thought it was awesome and pretty gosh-darn close to perfect.

JEEbus no kidding

Its pretty hard not to when the material writes itself.

Also. For what it's worth, I really liked appaloosa.

I did too.

i watched Gremlins last night. Still enjoyed it. Despite having seen it several times, I totally forgot that the guy comes and takes Mogwai away at the end. I'm going to watch Gremlins 2 tonight. I want to see how these two get back together!

I dunno, I think for me the big problem was that it deviated from the mold that was set up by the previous 2 films. I just didn't enjoy the ending at all, mostly because I just kept waiting for a twist to happen, and to be shocked. To be honest, I haven't seen it since it first hit dvd in 06(?), otherwise I could give you more specifics.

Just watched:



Interesting film, and one of the latest curiosities that the Criterion folks have put out in conjunction with their fascination with Samuel Fuller.

A white dog is a dog trained to attack black people. Its a racist dog, which completely sounds ludicrous if it weren't true. Apparently the film, and previously the book and article that inspired it all, is based on an experience that Jean Seberg had. The film is quirky at points, and in no way is it a "criterion" film. However, I see what they are going for with these releases of Fuller's films. He was definitely a rogue director. An auteur? Perhaps, he had a style that was simple and didn't shy away from interesting films. Who else is gonna make a racist dog picture with Burl Ives for Paramount?

We watched Burn After Reading on DVD last night, and I was VERY disappointed. Pitt provided a few hearty yuks ("Heh-heh...you think it's a Schwinn."), and Clooney's dildo recliner was worth a chuckle, but just about everyone else in that movie made me want to gouge out my eyes, ears, or both (especially McDormand and Malkovich).

Nice to see Sledge Hammer getting some work, though.

aw, I liked Burn After Reading.

It really could have been great, given the story and (most of) the cast. But I think my main problem with it is they just couldn't decide whether they wanted it to be a full-blown comedy or a thriller. Seeing people get gruesomely hatcheted to death and shot in the forehead is pretty jarring when placed inbetwixt knee slappers.

Also, I think I just can't take McDormand anymore. Yeah, I know she's married to one of the Coens and everybody loves her wacky take on these oddball characters, but she's become unbearable to me. I thought she was hilarious in Raising Arizona in a minor role, but then became somewhat tedious being so over-the-top throughout Fargo, and is now pretty much just a parody of her previous roles.

I've been watching Band Of Brothers all day today.

I love this series.

Just an FYI on that Harvey Milk doc that won the Oscar for Best Doc. Its now streaming over at Hulu:

http://www.mcnblogs.com/mcindie/archives/2008/12/the_times_of_ha.html

McDormand might be my favorite actress, she's great in everything

I very well may be a minority of one on this. Maybe it was just this particular character that I hated. I liked her better when she was demanding immunizations, instead of elective cosmetic procedures.

i watched the mummy: tomb of the dragon emperor last night. it was pretty dumb but slightly entertaining. it's probably a bad sign when i'm eagerly awaiting the return of a minor character in the movie just because of how hot i think she is.

That's like the opposite of everything I've heard about this movie, critics and word of mouth alike.

I thought it was pretty mediocre but could have been good, but not exceptional, had it been directed by someone with talent.


Recently I watched The Narrow Margin, a noir from '52. It was pretty fantastic. It featured so many noir stylistic elements it almost seemed self-conscious about it, but I don't think it really was. '52 was still too early for that kind of thing.

Saw Slumdog Millionaire. I dug it.

I watched the first dvd of the extended edition of The Fellowship Of The Ring last night, I started at 2 am so I didn't have the energy to watch the second too... I love the movie (all three of them) but Elijah Wood is incredibly annoying - and gets more so each time.

Excellent. And well worth nine bucks just to see Eva Mendes' naked ass alone.

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EGG. ON. MY. FACE.

Harry's Top Ten of 2008

1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
2. The Edge of Heaven
3. Encounters at the End of the World
4. The Visitor
5. In Bruges
6. Chop Shop
7. A Christmas Tale
8. The Band’s Visit
9. The Witnesses
10. My Winnipeg

I was close to renting this back around Thanksgiving. I still want to see it.

Have we discussed Benjamin Gump / Forrest Button yet?

this is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I saw it on my birthday last year, wasn't the most festive of films.

I am watching this right now:
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it's totally absurd but it does have Viggo Mortensen and Dominic West (of the Wire) so that helps...a little.

The Spirit was pretty bad.