Okay, no worries. Thanks, I've never been good with acronyms. I checked IMDB.com (so reliable - ha!) and Charlize Theron was never in Basic Instinct, that was Sharon Stone. But yes, I know who of Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth. Chris Hemsworth was apparently on Home and Away (but I don't watch soap operas - Aussie or not).

Finished watching Griff the Invisible a little Aussie romantic comedy. It's a low-key 'superhero' drama (but not really), the complete antithesis of The Avengers. There are very few Aussie movies I enjoy - they either seem to be mind-numbingly depressing or stupid comedies with an agenda. This was neither of those, it was a sweet little story about two quirky people living life and finding each other. Interesting and truly like-able protagonists, a well-written script, quality acting, good music and imaginative scenarios all make for a really enjoyable time.
8/10

I put this movie in a similar category to Lars and the Real Girl (yes, it's that good).

Movie trailer:

Warning not for children: some strong language and mild violence

I was looking at MSN's list of the top 50 Family Movies. Some I agreed, some I didn't. Some I wasn't pleased with their description.... (I was so excited to see almost all the Pixar movies on there, and LWW. ) but I saw a movie called I Remember Mama and was wondering a) what it was about (Wikipedia was a bit confusing) and b) is it good? I enjoy what I've seen of movies made in the past era and would like to explore those genres more. (There were a few which I was not particularly fond of mostly because of morality points I was not comfortable with, like ... *avoids rotten tomatoes* It's a Wonderful Life. ) But, anywho, I was curious and thought I'd ask. And, additionally, I'm open to movie recommendations in this genre! (Just so you know where I'm coming from, I'm not a huge fan of romance-centralized movies) Thanks in advance.

Aslanisthebest, I'm so happy you're interested in classic movies! I've always enjoyed them, I've probably seen more older movies than new!

First off: I Remember Mama. It was an older movie released in '48 about a Swedish immigrant family's life in San Fransisco in the early 1900's. It shows the ups and down and sometimes humorous life as a family, but the basic point of the story is told from a daughters eyes, reminiscing on her life and all that her mother did for them. "I remember Mama..." Very good story.

Secondly: I can recommend some movies to you, but they're pretty random, different genres. I added some stuff on the side of some of the titles so you get an idea of what they're about, should you like to watch them.
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1.My Fair Lady (Audrey Hepburn, musical about a phonetics teacher trying to turn a lowly flower seller in London...into a lady. Very funny.)

2.Pygmalion (An older version of My Fair Lady, with Leslie Howard, just not a musical)

3.An Affair to Remember (romance, but a very good story about everlasting love, Cary Grant)

4.The Robe (Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, A Bible-based film about a Roman officer who was in charge of Christ's crucifixion, and receives his Robe at the cross. He becomes tormented by what he's seen, and searches some of Christ's disciples for answers)

5.Dial M for Murder (Grace Kelly, mystery, an Alfred Hitchcock film. A man tries to have his wife murdered so as to get the insurance money, but on the night of the murder, things go horribly wrong...)

6.His Girl Friday (Cary Grant. Fast talking comedy about a newspaper who tries to win back his ex-wife/reporter before she gets married again by persuading her to write a big story for him. Very very funny, not really romantic, just funny. )

7.Since You Went Away (Joseph Cotten, Robert Walker, Shirley Temple, Claudette Colbert, wartime drama about the lives of a mother and her two teenage daughters growing up in WWII. Wonderful wonderful film)

8.Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Jimmy Stewart, dramatic, and yet very funny sometimes. Senator Smith learns very quickly how the political machine in his state is trying to manipulate him, and he starts to fight back. They start their gears in motion to crush him however, and his last resort is a filibuster on the floor of the Senate. As long as he keeps talking and remains standing, he can hold the floor, but as soon as either his voice or his legs give out, he loses everything. This filibuster is one of the greatest David v. Goliath stories on film.)

9. To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck, film based on Harper Lee's book)

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Thirdly: I don't know if you're interested, but this website: http://www.bigfiveglories.com/ allows you to watch older movies for free on the site. I've already watched some.

So, that's about all, if you'd like more titles or any info, feel free to PM me.

AslansChild

Wow, thanks so much for your extensive list, AslansChild! I can tell you're an aficionado in this. I really appreciate it.

I Remember Mama sounds really nice! I'm going to put it in our queue on Netflix. Thanks for the synopsis. And the best part, it's B&W! *loves those kinds of films* I'll post what I think of it when I get to see it!

And thank for the list.
My Fair Lady I've seen (and really liked. Such wonderful songs! I love "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" and "The Rain in Spain," to name a few.) and Audrey Hepburn is really enjoyable to watch.
The Robe sounds really interesting - I'll look into that!
I've heard about His Girl Friday and I was interested when I heard about the story- it sounds pretty good! I'll check that one out. I have a question, though - I know the content is not what is in current films, but what is the content? Like, is there any overtly "winkwink" things, or is it overall, clean and a decent film overall?
Since You Went Away sounds interesting, too! I am interested in WWII related media and my family loves Shirley Temple, so that one sounds like something I'll be checking out.
To Kill a Mockingbird - I've heard about this one from here and I saw it on the MSN list. Like I said, I love B&W films and additionally, this one looks really interesting. I still need to read the book this summer, but I'll definitely check it out after I've read the book.
Thanks a lot for all the information and the reccomendations!

Wow, thanks so much for your extensive list, AslansChild

Your very welcome, glad to be of some assistance. And please do post when you've seen I Remember Mama, I'd like to know what you thought of it!

I've heard about His Girl Friday and I was interested when I heard about the story- it sounds pretty good! I'll check that one out. I have a question, though - I know the content is not what is in current films, but what is the content? Like, is there any overtly "winkwink" things, or is it overall, clean and a decent film overall?

His Girl Friday is a clean film, I really can't think of anything negative to it. The only thing that I could remember being slightly off was that there's a guy who works for Cary Grant, and he spends his time with a weird blonde woman, but I can't remember anything bad or really obvious, the whole of the film is a comedy, I don't think they would've put that type of stuff in. I'll have to watch it again soon. I hope this helps!

Also, since we're talking about this type of thing, are you aware of the story of To Kill a Mockingbird? I'd hate for you to rent in and then be let down. It wasn't bad, and you see nothing, but it's talked about in court. Just wanted to let you know...

I will be sure to post in here about I Remember Mama! Thanks, again.

Okay, thanks for the information in His Girl Friday. It sounds decent. We just got live streaming on Netflix and it's on Play! So I will be watching that sometime soon.

Oh, oh, yeah--like I said, I don't like romance-centralize things and stuff. But I can handle some things (such as violence, etc) if they are there for a valid purpose and not portrayed in a glorifying light. I'm not like "I can only watch Dora or Word World or something."
Yes, my sister read the book, so I do know the story of TKaM. (what happens, what the court case is about, etc.) Thanks for the head's up.

Last week I watched the latest edition of The Three Musketeers (the one with Orlando Bloom and Logan Lehrman). I was surprised at how much I enjoyed steampunk Three Musketeers. It was a fun movie, and it stuck closer to the storyline than I would have thought considering they have these big balloon war machines with cannons.
A couple things I didn't like about it, they turned King Louis into a moron and there was too much cursing. It was also strange to me that they set it up for a sequel.

So if you're looking for a swashbuckling, popcorn flick, a la Pirates of the Caribbean, I recommend it. But if you're looking for a good book to film adaptation, this isn't for you.

I didn't like the book. Weird, eh? I thought the Disney version with Keifer Sutherland and Chris O'Donnell caught the spirit of the book better than Dumas did in the book...which is strange because I thought Dumas really hit it out of the park with Count of Monte Cristo. I'm sure I stand alone on this one .

Well, I recently got a couple of DVD's at McKay's (a used book/entertainment store down here in the South) while we were in Nashville a few weeks ago. Most of the titles I had seen before, but it was nice to finally have them in my collection.

Anyway, two in particular I thought I'd mention:

Reign of Fire (2002)

This is one I think you'd enjoy, Shadow, if you haven't already. It's a post-apocalyptic monster flick about a group of survivors held-up in a ruined English castle fighting... dragons! Cool looking dragons, too. There's another rag-tag group of American "dragon slayers" that roll into town headed by a shirtless Matthew McConaughey which causes a ton of tension with the Brits, headed by a pre-Batman Christian Bale.

The movie is a popcorn flick that has a gritty feel to it (don't all popcorn flicks nowadays do this?) and the actors do a decent job. McConaughey is clearly having a blast hamming it up as the half crazy American leader, especially when he goes one-on-one with a dragon near the end.

Overall, a good film as these types of things go. Definitely a B-movie, but an entertaining one with some rather impressive visual effects. 3/5

King Kong: The Extended Cut (2005)

I mostly bought this one for the wealth of "making of" featurettes on the second and third discs.

I didn't care much for the theatrical cut and the same goes for this rather unnecessary Extended Edition. I really don't think I have to go over the plot as I'm sure most of y'all are familiar with it, so I'll just briefly hit what I liked and disliked.

Liked: The scenery (both 1933 NY and Skull Island), which looked fantastic with the combination of sets, miniatures and CGI. The score by James Newton Howard, which I'm sure you all expected and the dinosaurs.

Disliked: The cast/characters who were mostly unlikable, the slooow pacing which was suppose to build up characters but just felt like Jackson was dragging his feet and, unfortunately, the wealth of CGI which has aged very badly.

There are a few fun and/or solid moments in here, but the extreme over-length and rather annoying characters keep this from ever being great... or even good. In the end, it's simply... O.K. 2/5

I'd hardly called "Reign of Fire" a monster-flick. There are barely any dragons in it. It's more the story about the humans banding together to survive.

Aye, but it does have monsters, er, dragons in it.

I actually feel that the balance of the human drama and the dragon attacks were handled very well. Much like with Jaws or the first two Alien films, you really start to care for the characters before everything goes to Hades.

I guess I was very disappointed because the trailer showed numerous dragons in it and they were in modern times (very deceptive and unlike the movie, I must say). The human drama wasn't significant enough for me.

True, but I never really buy into trailers or posters that much as a true reflection of what will be in the film.

The human side of things was a tad thin and/or hammy in spots, like with all the old 1950's creature movies that I grew up watching as a kid. I guess a combination of mild expectations and having a bit of nostalgia for these types of movies helped me get pass some of its faults.

Yes, I saw the movie as a young teenager. Back then I was more apt to believe trailers.

Has anyone seen King Arthur? I can't remember exactly when it came out, but I'm fairly sure it has Kiera Knightley and Ion Grufford in it. Was it any good so far as entertainment goes? And was it clean? And child friendly?