Two movies I've watched of late that I expected to hate but enjoyed nonetheless. I'll get to the 2nd one in a later post, but first....

Battleship - named after the iconic board game (which isn't actually on a board...it's in a little attache case thingie, but I digress), the movie stars a bunch of folks I don't really know with a sorta-cameo by Liam Neeson. No, really . Let's cut to the chase, shall we? In the year 2006 scientists detect an Earth-like planet orbiting some distant star and dub it "Planet G", which isn't really a great name for any kind of planet. I mean they name hurricanes better than they do planets these days. But again, I digress....so the scientists use this new-fangled technology they've developed to send a tight beam communications message to the planet just in case there's someone there and await a call back. The main plot revolves around local do-nothing Alex Hopper, who lives on the couch in his brother's apartment (brother played by Alexander Skarsgard). He's broke and has no job, pretty much like everyone else these days (rimshot) and is a classic slacker. After a run in with a chicken burrito and the local police, brother Stone (Skarsgard) convinces him to join the Navy. Cut to 6 years later. The aliens from Planet G have decided to pay a little visit to Planet Earth. Meanwhile Alex and Stone are participating in wargames just off the coast of Hawaii. Alex is now an officer, yet still a major slacker, who seems to have trouble getting along with others, but wants to impress his girlfriend's Admiral father (Neeson), who drives the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Aliens land unannounced, hinjinks ensue, and Alex Hopper has to prove he's a better officer than everyone else thinks he is.

The movie was actually kind of entertaining. The shots of all the various ships engaging in combat with the alien intruders is great fun, and on top of it the main character, Alex, is surprisingly likeable. The film gets rather hokey at times and the dialogue is a bit over the top. If you can forgive the fact that all the aliens look like Master Chief from Halo and that they perhaps shouldn't have come in ships that could be damaged by puny Earthlings, you might find this one enjoyable. Bonus points for seeing the Mighty Mo' (Battleship Missouri) in action. Minus points for getting anyone to believe that they'd keep that many live rounds (if any) on a museum ship is a hard sell. Still, seeing her turn and give a full point-blank broadside at the big alien ship was a lot of fun. 3 stars.

Nothing like being stuck on a plane for twenty four hours either way to enable one to catch up with movies, is there?

Two movies I watched that I really enjoyed were

1. War horse. Almost unbearably sad in some places it really conveys the misery of World War 1 in Flanders, and both the best and worst of the soldiers who fought there. There were real moments of the best kind of humour, such as when the soldiers on both sides

2. Hugo, another movie set in France, is the story of an orphaned boy trying to survive in post-WW1 Paris, around the Montparnassus railway, without being marched off to an orphanage. It also gives an insight into the beginnings of cinema-going.

I also watched both Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. These adult versions of the original Snow White story were interesting, but it seems that it is the fashion to make Snow White and other story book characters far more assertive and less gullible than I remember from my youth. In at least one version,

And when on the home leg I couldn't watch anything else, I watched Brave. I think the airline wanted us all to make like the bears and go into hibernation.

As far as I know, Mirror, Mirror was not meant as an "adult version" of Snow White, but rather as a family film in a similar manner to the classic Princess Bride from the late 80's.

Snow White and The Huntsman on the other hand is VERY obviously meant to be an adult version of the tale. And actually isn't too bad.

Well, I can't comment on any of the movies you all have been talking about, because I haven't seen any of them. But I will add a few.

A couple weeks ago while visiting family, I was able to get Wait Until Dark from the library there. I watched it with my brother and sisters, it was very good. The ending was unexpected, I wasn't sure for a minute how it was all going to turn out. I will be watching for WUD on Amazon, I would like to watch it again. It's kind of like Charade, but not as funny.

And on Friday, I watched Kingdom of Heaven with my brother and one of my sisters. It was okay, not a favorite or thing. But it was worth watching once. I thought Liam Neeson was going to last long than he did, so that was kind of disappointing.

Also, we watched my family's favorite Thin Man movie, Thin Man Goes Home, on Saturday. It was just as good as ever. Still my favorite one, no matter how many times we watch it and we have watched it quite a few times.

SnowAngel

I thought Mirror, Mirror was cute, if not magical. The random Bollywood dancing at the end was worth the admission price.

With regard to Captain America, I really liked the way his character was written (somehow the cheesy, thickly-laid-on patriotism was endearing) in The Avengers, so am looking forward to seeing his original story.

This past weekend I saw On the Waterfront (1954 -starring Marlon Brando) for the first time. It was really excellent! The priest's speeches were thought-provoking, and I fell in love with Marlon's lost-little-boy/accidental murderer act (?!), and spent the rest of the night trying to imitate the awesome New York accent. Although the ending was rather abrupt, the heroine unrealistic, and the music dreadful...it was still an effective story. Really well done.

I also borrowed Twelve Angry Men- has anyone here seen it? I've heard it's really good, but have yet to watch it.

12 Angry Men is very good!
It's very well done with a great script so it never gets boring(at least to me) even though the entire movie takes place in one room.

It might be considered boring by a lot of the modern audiences who are used to explosions-per-minute. But if you like well scripted, thought provoking old movies I'd definitely recommend it.

aragorn2: if you are talking about the Henry Fonda version of 12 Angry Men, then I too love that movie it's so well written and it's so entertaining even though it is only in one room

My Mom, a couple of my sisters, and I went to the library today and I got The Maltese Falcon, 36 Hours, and Anne of Green Gables. I have become the unofficial movie getter when we go to the library.

We big kids are going to watch The Maltese Falcon tonight, since we girls won't be able to stay up late on Friday night. We have never seen it before, unless a couple minutes on TCM counts.

And yesterday, we (the whole family) watched The Adventures of Robin Hood. It's a family favorite. And big people watch Arsenic and Old Lace, it's a tradition to watch it on the 31st of October. Awesome as always. I love the faces Cary Grant makes in it.

SnowAngel

aragorn2It might be considered boring by a lot of the modern audiences who are used to explosions-per-minute. But if you like well scripted, thought provoking old movies I'd definitely recommend it.

Haha, nice descriptions. I like a bit of both, actually. Depends on how long the day has been. Although, I had to return it before watching it, or it'd be overdue. I'll go back and borrow it soon though, as it's holiday season (and I tend to overindulge in black-and-white films at this time).

SnowAngel, my mum and I love the Anne movies. Well, the first two. I used to laugh a bit at Megan Dodds' (Anne's) acting, but I just love the story so much I took it in stride and it got better.

Which version of Robin Hood did you watch? Is it the Eroll Flynn one? My family loves that film. Apparently there is a real-life Disney version, which I want to see, has anyone heard of it? And is it any good? I recently made the mistake of borrowing The Swiss Family Robinson solely because it was Disney, so I'd rather know beforehand if it's any good or about as enjoyable as a punch in the face. (Sorry, I just had to use that smilie somehow).

Ah! I really want to see Arsenic and Old Lace. I love Cary Grant's facial expressions in general, and I've heard from many people on this forum that it's a crack up of a movie. Sometimes though I worry that if I go too fast, I'll run out of wonderful old films to watch, so I don't mind taking my time about such recommendations. Even if I made a list of the best ones, I'd go through it slowly.

Well. The reason I came to post in here, is to write up what I thought about West Side Story which I saw last night at my sister's insistence. Her English teacher raves about it and I'd been meaning to see it for a few years, but I'd have to sum it up in my sister's words:

Yeah. Obviously, we weren't much impressed by it. Although my dad liked it, but I think that shows his age. Also- I've never liked the 'love' story of Romeo and Juliet, which is what West Side is based on. Actually, the love between Tony and Maria was so contrived, so rehearsed, and just so unrealistic that I had to laugh whenever they burst into heartfelt solos. Maybe this makes me sound like a heartless cynic, but considering I teared up during the last ten minutes of Lassie I caught this morning (and I don't even like dogs all that much) I'd have to conclude there was something seriously lacking in the emotive department of the film. There was little to no character development. (I'm probably rambling to myself here, as nobody has posted in a while, but that doesn't really bother me, so I'll continue). It irritated me greatly that Maria, who has only recently arrived in America and who doesn't understand the way things work between the two rival gangs, decided almost immediately (although not as immediately as she decided to fall in love with a complete stranger) that Tony (who has only recently left the gang life and got a decent job) must do something to stop a fair (though admittedly stupid) fist-fight. You can guess what happens when he steps in to 'proclaim' peace. (What? You mean having a sit down and a cup of tea and just talking about our problems might not work between violent gang members?!) Although, to be fair, my sister tells me the fight would have turned violent regardless of Tony's hurrying it down that path.

Anyway. If that film won ten academy awards all I can say is that 1961 must have been an otherwise exceedingly dull year; OR that ballet dance fight-offs were the latest craze. Oh! That reminds me. I did like one thing about the film, and that was the song 'America' (which I daresay you can watch on youtube rather than slog through two hours of...of...well, whatever it was it went for two hours).

SnowAngel, my mum and I love the Anne movies. Well, the first two. I used to laugh a bit at Megan Dodds' (Anne's) acting, but I just love the story so much I took it in stride and it got better.

I saw part of the third movie years ago, never wanted to finish it. I didn't get to AoGG, Mom and the little girls watched it when we older girls weren't home. I'm going to get it for the library again soon.

Yes, it was the Errol Flynn version.

Arsenic and Old Lace is a must see! Have you seen North By Northwest?

I recently watched After Office Hours and Merrily We Live on TCM. Both were very good. Merrily We Live is hilarious!

And my brother bought Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, it came in the mail today. I'm hoping we get to watch it sometime in the next few days.

SnowAngel

The other night my parents, sister's family, and I sat down for an evening viewing of The Princess Bride. It's one we've all seen (and some of us can quote all too well) but it was still a fun time together.

It's kind of an odd movie, in the sense that it's kind of a fractured fairy tale and has a dry sense of humor, but it's among our favorites. We talked about it afterwards and agreed that (in our case, at least), liking it required repeated viewings. I remember going to a Seattle cinema with my brother when it first came out back in 1987 and we came out shaking our heads, not really sure what we'd just seen. But now we can quote most of it.

I'm a fan of Don Bluth's All Dogs go to Heaven. It's darker than most other animated family movies, but I like it because of the lesson that Charlie has to learn: He has to learn how to become more humble when he helps Anne Marie. I don't think the film is as memorable as Disney animation (or the Narnia movies), but it still holds a place in my heart. The puppy/pizza scene is so cute

stargazer.
I know what you mean about The Princess Bride. We have a copy, and even watch it when it's on TV. I think it is destined to be one of those all time classics that nobody will forget, but never admit they can't. ( Did that even sound like it made sense?) Anyway. Have fun storming the castle.

I haven't been watching very many movies lately. However my family and I watch one on TCM today, it was The Glass Key (1942). It was pretty good. I didn't realize how much I like old suspence/murder mysteries until we moved here and got TCM again.

Still waiting for my brother to watch Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, not sure if he'll watch tonight since he's got a class tomorrow. Might have to wait until this coming Friday if we don't watch it tonight.

SnowAngel

I love the movie Cats and Dogs!