So the wife pulls a movie out of the netflix holder behind the tv on Saturday, looks at me like she's about to ask for a favor, and before I can put 2 and 2 together, she explains that she's had a hankering to watch this:




...

My spideysense was tingling, telling me this might be a loaded motherhood/preggers issue of some unfathomable sort, and that direct opposition might end in disaster, so I got down a pint glass, dumped in ice and Jim Beam, 2 shots of water and a twist of lemon, and sat down to get through it.

It was, predictably, pretty goddam terrible. None of the underage girls was pedo-tastic, and finding no other compelling reason to actually follow the dialogue, I tried texting Crack twice for help, but never got a response.

i had a friend in college named josh drew, who happened to marry a girl named nancy

not particularly humorous, but noteworthy

I am sure many Obners will be thrilled the moment Ms. Roberts becomes legal.

Similarly, yet totally different, my friend Josh MacKeller was dating a chick named Helen for quite some time. Unfortunately, they didn't get married.

much to our chagrin!

I guess since it came out as the same time as those other two movies, whatever they were called, I lumped them in. It might have had something to do with every hyped comedy of the past 3 years having him or Will Ferrell somehow attached to it.

Does not say much for it's prospects when its interchangeable with these other crap fests - but you dolts enjoy.

The Alamo downtown is playing Barfly this week. Sweet.

Took this in last night, and I was definitely not disappointed. A caveat though, I'm am unabashedly in love with everything that Gus Van Sant puts out. However, I think this film transcends my normal love affair, and ranks among his best. There were some awkward editing choices, and perhaps the screenplay wasn't the strongest, but the ensemble cast was top notch.

Penn, was great. I haven't seen the Wrestler or Frost/Nixon so I couldn't say how he is comparatively, but I will say it is probably one of his more compelling and honest performances. This, coming from the guy who thought his turn in Falcon and the Snowman was excellent as well, so take it as you want.

The supporting cast was pitch-perfect. James Franco seems to be shedding his teen-heartthrob image, and we could see some really great stuff from him in the future. Diego Luna was great, and unfortunately didn't have much screentime. Brolin was apt as Dan White, Emile Hirsch may have been the one weak link. Don't get me wrong, I like Hirsch, but at points it seemed that he over-acted. Next to Penn who had such a smooth delivery, Hirsch's seemed rushed, and not confident.

Ebert named this as his favorite of the Oscar nom'd films recently. I'll have to see the others to fully reach a decision, but Milk was worth my time. I hope this will spark some new dialog, and hopefully some new discussion on issues (Prop 8). However, it seems that the marketers wanted to stay as asexual as possible, despite this being a very pro-gay film. Perhaps because of the Oscar's history with films concerning gay protagonists?

I saw The Boy in Striped Pajamas last night. To use hrr's paraphrase about a few scenes: "horrifying."

Finally watched Cool Hand Luke yesterday and now watching The Third Man.

I've been meaning to watch this for years. l

i thought the third man was kinda boring, but the chase scenes are great. and so is joseph cotten, as always.

I thought it was a cool noir, though I am admittedly not very familiar with the genre. Vienna looked great and Orson Welles was awesome in it. That line about cuckoo clocks killed me and was apparently improvised by Welles.

I liked it ok. But 2 points were readily apparent after viewing it:

1. This wasn't even Danny Boyle's best film.
2. If this wins the Oscar, I'll be disenchanted, but not Crash disenchanted.

Coraline

The theater I saw it at was showing it in 3D. I always thought that 3D was a gimmick... but boy-howdy. It really is an incredible experience. It's not just things leaping off the screen... but the feeling of depth to everything. Coraline itself was pretty intense. I wouldn't consider it a film for kids... just the opening scene had one kid screaming and begging to leave. Very dark from the get go and it never lets up. Scary things have been lacking in the "childrens film" genre since some of those earlier Disney flims like The Great Mouse Detective... everything today seems to be all sunshine and roses. This is definitely a refreshing change of pace.

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - Holy smackballs this was bad. Gave me new appreciation for Juno.

Saw Frost/Nixon & The Wrestler last night...

Frost/Nixon was very good, but The Wrestler was extremely good. The Wrestler should have been up for Best Picture.

Rent was fucking bad

[img][331:500]http://www.freeclassicimages.com/images/charlie_chan_in_london.jpg[/img]


These were both actually pretty good, London being better. Of course they are inherently racist by today's standards, but not worse than studio era Hollywood's portrayal of blacks. Occasional use of the word "Chinaman"--Charlie Chan even says "I'm just a lucky old Chinaman".

Finally got around to watching "Control," the Joy Division biopic, last night. I thought it was wonderful. I think I remember a few people complaining about it or being underwhelmed (Dri? Was that you?). While the subject matter was pretty heavy and we all know how it ends, I thought Sam Riley did an excellent job portraying Ian Curtis and I didn't find it to be depressing as a film. Even though it was black and white, with Anton Corbijn directing, it looked beautiful.

They didn't delve too much into Curtis' depression (it seemed to me that it just kinda morphed into that with no real explanation aside from the fact that he'd been diagnosed with epilepsy, having a hard time with the meds and was unhappy in his marriage).

Anyway, I'd recommend. I don't think you have to be super famliar with Joy Division's music to appreciate it.

The movie or the one filmed live on Broadway?

Movie (hence the thread we are in)

just got back from The Wrestler. great movie, but holy fucking depressing...wow.

i think I liked this but I expected more. Hathaway was pretty good but melissa Leo should dominate this oscar category.

Not that I've been monitoring it or anything, but I did happen to hear on the radio this morning that Emma Roberts turns 18 today.