What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Went to go see Jem with my wife last night, theater pulled the film. So yeah that was a miss. Sadly my wife is actually a bit torn up about this. She wanted to see it but was sick all of last week. She knows that it is the Justin Beiber 3.0 movie, but Samantha Newark (voice of Jem in the cartoon), is a personal friend of hers and when they last had dinner together she implored my wife to give it a chance.

Mr. Holmes: Slow and quietly contemplative, but also a beautiful and moving story about Sherlock Holmes as a very old man, trying to understand the real meaning of his last case from 35 years prior. I predict an Oscar nom for Ian McKellen as Sherlock.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl: High school drama with some great performances, and a good script. In a similar vein and quality as A Fault in Our Stars.

Re-watched Tomorrowland with my girls. When I saw it in the theater, I thought it was better than the mediocre reviews I'd read, but on a second viewing the flaws did seem more apparent. It's a bit disjointed and unsure of its tone, ranging from Spielbergian wonder to Men in Black goofiness. And my 13 year-old daughter complained about some of the dialogue, so that should tell you something. Still, I think it's interesting in many ways and more of a 'well, they tried for something big but didn't quite get there' kind of thing. I can respect that, but I had previously thought this might catch on better with rentals, and now I don't think it will.

Spy: I'd heard good things, and it is really really funny at times. Kind of doesn't keep up its pace as far as the humor... there's a point when plot gets in the way a bit. I also wonder if the decision to have Melissa McCarthy's character actually be a competent spy (with real fighting ability) served the comedy as well. I suppose it could have been cheesy if she bumbled her way through everything, and it was really funny at first to see her kicking ass, but I think I'd have liked just a hint more of a Leslie Nielson or Inspector Clouseau. Regardless, I hope this did well enough for a sequel, because I'd like to see more of her in the role.

Saw ROOM last night. I'll write a review in the next couple days. Not a good date movie, lol. Pretty rough but completely amazing.

Ah, I knew you'd like it. Ha yes, not a date movie at all. :oP

I took my college son to see Bridge of Spies . I wish it was directed by someone besides Spielberg. He took the Cold War and stripped away all the confusion, betrayal and noir-ish heaviness, creating a patriotic feel-good movie. It was good, but more of a $2.50 2nd run experience, not worth the $7.00 matinee price. Just so heavy handed and obvious. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ruined me.

craniac wrote: I took my college son to see Bridge of Spies . I wish it was directed by someone besides Spielberg. He took the Cold War and stripped away all the confusion, betrayal and noir-ish heaviness, creating a patriotic feel-good movie. It was good, but more of a $2.50 2nd run experience, not worth the $7.00 matinee price. Just so heavy handed and obvious. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ruined me.

So, it wasn't Twilight Struggle in movie form?

One excellent book to read about the Cold War is The Company: a Novel of the CIA by Robert Littell. I picked it up at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and then read it from cover to cover.

I'm trying to learn French so I decided to hit look for some movies in the language. Intouchables didn't have subtitles so I watched Le dînner de cons instead.

It's a fun, if unremarkable movie. The premise is that a rich guy and his friends organize "dinners for idiots" in which each member brings invites an idiot to dinner and whoever brings the biggest idiot wins. Unfortunately for our protagonist he brings home a really good idiot and as he hurts his back and gets dumped by his girlfriend he is forced to rely more and more on him creating all sort of funny situations.

What makes the movie enjoyable is that the characters are all very well balanced. The idiot is both annoying and incredibly hard to get rid of, sure, but he's good natured and hard to dislike, while the rich guy is a douchebag but it's hard not to share his frustration with the idiot.

I'm told that there's an American remake called "Dinner for schmucks" which heavily tones down the main characters and was poorly received.

Yeah, Dinner for Schmucks looked terrible.

You're learning French, Erik? That's awesome! Can I recommend my favourite French movie of all time to you? It's STUNNINGLY good

THE CLASS. - it's sooooooo good. It's from 2008.

See it and let me know what you think.

btw, speaking of foreign film, I'm so mad they're making an American version of El Secreto de Sus Ojos with Julia Roberts. I saw the trailer this week and it looks awful. The original was amazing.

So I watched the 2011 remake of Fright Night with Colin Farrell - and strangely, I really enjoyed it - I mean the inner film critic in me was whispering "this is a bad movie." But it was one of those bad movies that was fun to watch. Kind of like Roadhouse.

Colin Farrell (who usually unimpresses) was fun as the a-hole neighbor/vampire. Tenant was goofy fun as well.

It's a lessor film

"Work," Barney, come on.

On Netflix tilt last night. I watched EQUILIBRIUM, which is like BOONDOCK SAINTS crossed with 1984 and worse than either of those pretty bad movies. I know the bar is low for sci-fi stuff, but people: Don't let it get this low.

Then I watch JOHN DIES AT THE END, which I want to be a series on Showtime or something. It was great! Like THE NAKED LUNCH meets Bill & Ted and smarter than either of those pretty bad movies.

Crimson Peak - It's been a while since I've seen a movie this bad. The boring actors spout boring lines about a boring story. I almost fell asleep a few times. Shame on you, Del Toro.

What struck me the first time I watched Le dîner de cons is that they never actually make it to the dinner. If you want a similar type of French comedy, check out Le placard. Some older fare featuring Louis de Funès: Rabbi Jacob and La soupe aux choux (also starring the guy who plays the idiot in Le dîner de cons).

I watched Terminator: Genisys last night. Not a great movie but still a pretty good one. I like how they integrated T1 and T2,

Black Barney wrote: Saw ROOM last night. I'll write a review in the next couple days. Not a good date movie, lol. Pretty rough but completely amazing.

Given how bad the book was, I am surprised the movie was good.