*it's been more than 24 hours since my last post*

Romeo and Juliet (1968) (IMDb Top 250- N/A)

I know I was working with my own collection of movies, but having recently finished the book with my girlfriend we wanted to see the movie. (We often read together). I never liked the book in school back when I was younger, but age has done much to change that, in fact it was I who suggested it. I loved the book and I loved the movie.

The first half was our favorite part, when young Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love. Terrific actors to portray them I think. The whole cast was spot on too. Second half, the tragedy.... Truly sad. While watching the first half I was hoping it'd end differently, but it's the ending that has made this story last through the ages.

This movie receives a rating of 8/10 from me

Winner of 2 Academy Award, and 2 other Nominations:
Best Cinematography (Win)
Best Costume Design (Win)
Best Picture
Best Director

While on vacation, I watched two movies I'd never seen before; The King's Speech, and The Blind Side. The former was my favorite, and it was truly wonderful!! Really, really hard and painful to watch, but well worth it. Colin Forth did a marvelous job, it must have been so hard, and he really carried over his character. I would highly recommend this, though for younger people, you might want to get the PG-13 version, in which I presume, they just cut out one scene of long, constant language; or just be prepared to fast forward.
The Blind Side wasn't quite as good as I was expecting; it didn't have enough depth to it. But it was sweet and very well done, so I really enjoyed it!!

While on vacation, I watched two movies I'd never seen before; The King's Speech...I would highly recommend this, though for younger people, you might want to get the PG-13 version, in which I presume, they just cut out one scene of long, constant language

They don't cut it, they just replace THAT word with another, which might still be offensive to some but much less than THAT word. And I too recommend that movie, very good but formulaic I think. Wasn't my favorite of the year but a mighty fine film just the same.

*it's been more than 24 hours since my last post*

Atonement (IMDb Top 250- N/A)

Joe Wright's second movie. I love it! Saw it twice in theater when it first released, and hoped it would win the top Oscar, which it sadly did not. This is one of the most perfect movies I've seen, minus one or two moments I could have done without. The story is terrific, two lovers separated by a lie, trying to get back to each other. And the girl who cause it all. All three tragic figures in the movie IMO.

This keeps its rating of 10/10 from me

Winner of 1 Academy Award, and 6 other Nominations:
Best Original Score (Win)
Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Supporting Actress- Saoirse Ronan
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design

*cheers for narnian1's Atonement post*

I don't think I like Atonement quite as much as I did when I first saw it but it's still probably in my top 15 if not top 10. I find some of the acting a bit contrived now, but maybe that's just because I've seen it soooo many times and it's not as "new" to me? Also I've read the book a few times and I feel like they didn't explore Cecelia's character as much as they could. We don't really understand her in the film like we do in the book.

What makes the movie for me, is Briony. She is one fascinating character. And that score is my top favorite movie soundtrack, ever, period.

The Darjeeling Limited:
OK, I just saw this movie yesterday and it's already in my top five (I'm not really sure what's in my top five, except I know that it is ). It's everything I like in a movie---randomness, artisticness, beauty, profoundness, but also a sense of fun and light-heartedness. It's the second Wes Anderson film I've seen. If you like The Brothers Bloom you'd like this one.

I just saw shaun of the dead last night. It was really funny because it was so fake.

Love that movie, despite all the strong language and some very graphic violence. I thought it was really funny because of the script and the situations they were in. It's not often that you get to see romantic comedies with zombies!

David was such a grump it was so funny. Hard seeing him as david not bernard though. so many actors i knew turned up in the movie.

I just saw shaun of the dead last night. It was really funny because it was so fake.

Shaun of the Dead is a really funny movie from what I've seen of it (which amounts to roughly half of it). If you liked it you'd probably like Zombieland too.

Wifester and I have been watching any number of movies on Netflix. Here's what I've got this week. I've been wanting to see a few "classics" and see what makes them classic to begin with, so I've got a few oldies in here mixed in with the newer films.

The Graduate (1967) - A very young Dustin Hoffman stars as Benjamin Braddock, who has just come home from college with a degree and lots of accolades and runs into some major shenanigans with a friend of his parents referred to as Mrs. Robinson. I cannot discuss the specifics of the plot here, albeit the film is listed as a comedy/drama and I had a hard time seeing very much funny in it. The comedy felt almost completely flat to me and was replaced by a sense of "I cannot believe I'm watching this" kinda thing. To top it off the soundtrack, by Simon and Garfunkel, did not match the screen happenings at all, to the point of being a distraction. I think if one is older they might could stomach this movie, but I can't really give my recommendation (largely for reasons I cannot list here). 1 1/2 stars because it's only worth one watch and wasn't really very funny.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Jack Nicholson and an impressive Who's Who of longtime Hollywood character actors (including but not limited to: Christopher Lloyd, Danny Devito, Scatman Crothers, Brad Douriff, and a very young Vincent Shiavelli). I'd even say I saw Michael Berryman (the mutant guy from the original The Hills Have Eyes) in there someplace. That's impressive! At any rate, Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson) is a fast talking, wheeling dealing criminal who gets sent to a psychiatric hospital for being lazy and faking mental health issues at his low security prison. The hospital has to evaluate his sanity and determine if he's for real or just trying to get out of trouble, thus McMurphy finds himself sharing time and space with a collection of folks with mental troubles big and small, all living under the watchful eye of authoritarian Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). McMurphy spends the majority of his time making his fellow patients at the hospital feel better about life in general and resisting the totalitarian Nurse Ratched at every turn. I think this is a decent film and one that makes me cringe at the prospect of the abuse mental health patients must have endured once. Ratched is pumped up to be a low-grade Hitler of some type, and while she had her moments (the group therapy sessions definitely did the trick for me) the fact is it's a psychiatric hospital and a little discipline never hurt anyone. Depressing ending. 2 1/2 stars. Can anyone believe Brad Douriff (whom you all know as Grima Wormtongue from the LotR movies) was ever so young?

Creep (2004) - This British horror film follows a German model named Kate (Franka Potente) who is trying to get to a party that actor George Clooney may be attending and decides to use the Underground when she can't find a taxi. She falls asleep on the platform and wakes up to find herself alone in the station. Well, not exactly alone....you see there's someone (or something) that lives down here and only comes out when the sun is down and the doors are locked. Strange film but not unenjoyable. A lot of times in films of this type the lead actress is pretty but fairly shallow, kind of shy on grey matter, and has a pair of lungs that would make an opera singer envious. In this case Potenta (whom you might know better as Marie (Matt Damon's girlfriend) in the Bourne Identity) does herself credit by breaking those conventions and being fairly smart, albeit underequipped to deal with the situation at hand. She, a couple of homeless people living secretly in the station, and a trapped sanitation worker, travel through the station and its surrounding tunnel complex and discover the brutal history of the creature that lives in the Underground. I liked the movie and it's good for what it is, although in many ways it's a fairly formulaic plot; girl finds herself in peril, girl runs, girl screams, girl finds it within herself to fight back, etc. Still, as I said, not a bad movie for what it is. Two stars. For Heaven's sake please never fall asleep on the platform in any part of the Underground. It's just bad news.

Maverick (1994) - I have an admitted soft spot for this film going in as my sister Jeannie, who left us several years ago, took me to see this when it was at the theater and she and I enjoyed it a great deal. The film (based on the older TV show of the same name) stars Mel Gibson as the titular character Bret Maverick, a roguish and likable gambler who is trying to get to the All Rivers Draw Poker Championship game that's set to take place in a few days. Maverick uses his charm and sense of humor to defuse hostile situations and put his opponents guards down, is a great observer of human nature, and is extremely gifted at the game of poker. Along the way he meets (and tags along with) Marshal Zane Cooper (James Garner, the original Maverick of the TV series), and Jodie Foster as Mrs. Annabelle Bransford, a gifted poker player who uses her feminine wiles to win money from her opponents and to scam others. Maverick is so gifted at poker, in fact, that someone doesn't want him to get to the game and hires Angel (Alfred Molina....Doc Octopus in Spiderman 2) to prevent him from making it to the game. There is much to like about the movie and the humor is spot on throughout, with Gibson and Foster's characters bickering in a constant barrage of very funny dialogue as each gets the upper hand on the other and repeatedly loses the advantage to the other. The film also has a ton of cameos by any number of actors and country singers (Johnny Cash is purportedly in this film, though I did not see him) and was the last film for a number of them. For my money I really enjoyed the performance of Graham Greene who played Joseph, the sarcastic and scheming chief of a small tribe of Indians who Maverick meets up with to collect an old debt from. Unless you enjoy Draw Poker (which I admittedly do) the game itself may seem a bit confusing and the magnitude of the hands being laid out on the table in the final game will be lost to you (the odds of getting a natural 4 of a kind or Straight Flush at the same table is statistically near impossible, let alone a Royal Flush). For what it's worth my wife and I really enjoyed watching the movie again and I might even be able to talk her into a few hands of 5 Card Draw before all is said and done. Nothing wrong with that. 3 stars! I love this movie.

I was meant to get around to watching zombieland but never did like a lot of things. I usually watch films if i know and like the actors/actresses in them or if it is a book i have really liked. If i don't know anyone then i usually have to research it first.

I finally got around to seeing "Son Of Rambow" (starring Will Poulter). wow. it made me laugh and cry. I love it. it's totally epic!

I finally got around to seeing "Son Of Rambow" (starring Will Poulter). wow. it made me laugh and cry. I love it. it's totally epic!

Sounds great, what is it about?

The other night my family and I watched a very, very old Jimmy Stewart film "Shop Around the Corner." I've heard about it for years but never got around to watching it. Well, from what I saw of it (the old vhs tape we were lent only had a bit over half the film on it - have ordered the dvd )I really, really enjoyed it. Its very dialogue driven and is pretty much set in one shop (around the corner of course!) but the lines are sooooo good and the acting is really superb. I heartily recommend it

Oh yes, Eowyn - that's a really cute movie, I really enjoy watching it; just like I do everything that has Jimmy Stewart in it.
If anyone is really into older films like that, The House on 5th Avenue has to be one of the funniest, cutest movies I've ever seen. It's really good!!

I finally got around to seeing "Son Of Rambow" (starring Will Poulter). wow. it made me laugh and cry. I love it. it's totally epic!

Sounds great, what is it about?

here's the plot summary:

SON OF RAMBOW is the name of the home movie made by two little boys with a big video camera and even bigger ambitions. Set on a long English summer in the early 80's, SON OF RAMBOW is a comedy about friendship, faith and the tough business of growing up. We see the story through the eyes of Will, the eldest son of a fatherless Plymouth Brethren family. The Brethren regard themselves as God's 'chosen ones' and their strict moral code means that Will has never been allowed to mix with the other 'worldlies,' listen to music or watch TV, until he finds himself caught up in the extraordinary world of Lee Carter, the school terror and maker of bizarre home movies. Carter exposes Will to a pirate copy of Rambo: First Blood and from that moment Will's mind is blown wide open and he's easily convinced to be the stuntman in Lee Carters' diabolical home movie. Will's imaginative little brain is not only given chance to flourish in the world of film making, but is also very handy when it comes to dreaming up elaborate schemes to keep his partnership with Lee Carter a secret from the Brethren community. Will and Carter's complete disregard for consequences and innocent ambition means that the process of making their film is a glorious rollercoaster that eventually leads to true friendship. They start to make a name for themselves at school as movie makers but when popularity descends on them in the form of the Pied Piper-esque French exchange student, Didier Revol, their unique friendship and their precious film are pushed, quite literally, to breaking point.

I must warn you that there's some strong language and a few other tiny bits that might be considered inappropriate by some people, but everyone's different. it's rated PG-13.
but it's really good. I enjoyed it a lot!

Oh yes, Eowyn - that's a really cute movie, I really enjoy watching it; just like I do everything that has Jimmy Stewart in it.
If anyone is really into older films like that, The House on 5th Avenue has to be one of the funniest, cutest movies I've ever seen. It's really good!!

Yeah, some of those older films are really good although I find it a bit hard to get past the crackling picture Still, I really liked Shop Around the Corner and I'll have to look into The House on 5th Avenue - it sounds really good Actually, SATC is the first film I've seen with Jimmy Stewart in it that I liked, although to be fair I've only seen a couple of his - Vertigo (which I couldn't stand) and The Shootist (John Wayne's last film) which I also couldn't stand. So after hearing great things about his acting I was pleased to be able to watch a film that I liked

here's the plot summary:

SON OF RAMBOW is the name of the home movie made by two little boys with a big video camera and even bigger ambitions. Set on a long English summer in the early 80's, SON OF RAMBOW is a comedy about friendship, faith and the tough business of growing up. We see the story through the eyes of Will, the eldest son of a fatherless Plymouth Brethren family. The Brethren regard themselves as God's 'chosen ones' and their strict moral code means that Will has never been allowed to mix with the other 'worldlies,' listen to music or watch TV, until he finds himself caught up in the extraordinary world of Lee Carter, the school terror and maker of bizarre home movies. Carter exposes Will to a pirate copy of Rambo: First Blood and from that moment Will's mind is blown wide open and he's easily convinced to be the stuntman in Lee Carters' diabolical home movie. Will's imaginative little brain is not only given chance to flourish in the world of film making, but is also very handy when it comes to dreaming up elaborate schemes to keep his partnership with Lee Carter a secret from the Brethren community. Will and Carter's complete disregard for consequences and innocent ambition means that the process of making their film is a glorious rollercoaster that eventually leads to true friendship. They start to make a name for themselves at school as movie makers but when popularity descends on them in the form of the Pied Piper-esque French exchange student, Didier Revol, their unique friendship and their precious film are pushed, quite literally, to breaking point.

I must warn you that there's some strong language and a few other tiny bits that might be considered inappropriate by some people, but everyone's different. it's rated PG-13.
but it's really good. I enjoyed it a lot!

Thanks for that Liberty - it sounds like a very interesting film. I've only just gotten to see VODT for the first time a week ago (long story - not because I didn't want to see it or anything like that) and Will Poulter as Eustace was pretty much my favourite thing in it