Recently I've watched:

Little Miss Sunshine - quite good but a bit too crass at time, great acting and good story with a dysfunctional but interesting family. It's a quirky drama with some comedic moments. Not for children.

The Host (no, not the Stephanie Myer's book/movie) - this is a brilliant Korean monster movie but it's so much more than that. It doesn't fit neatly into any genre. The Host has some thriller/horror and comedic moments, highly emotional and dramatic and yet it remains entirely character-driven. So you'd probably call it a drama. It's raw, it's intense, it's very well done.
The movie isn't for children though - there's some blood, heavy themes and some strong language. Highly recommended. 9/10

The Birds and PJ's King Kong? Tsk, tsk, PC, what shall we do with you?

I take it you don't like Audrey Hepburn at all, eh, QueenLucy? Even though I love classic movies, I've actually yet to see Sabrina, An Affair to Remember, or Breakfast at Tiffany's. Then again, the subject matter of those movies doesn't necessarily appeal to me.

As for my recent views....

Citizen Kane (1941) - Yes, I'm reviewing IT. The big one, the whopper. It would be so easy to jump on the bandwagon and proclaim it the best movie of all time ... and also quite easy to laugh that title down, call it critics-based propaganda surrounding a rather heartless film. Unfortunately, I can't do either. The first time I saw it, I was inclined more to the latter viewpoint. I was impressed by the cinematography and the supporting performances, but that was it. However, when I had to watch it again for my Masterpieces of Film class, I was able to enjoy and respect it a good deal more. It does have a story to tell, and does so in a fascinating way. Still, I cannot love it, simply because of the cold, rather scientific way it approaches its subject matter. I understand why it's that way, but I don't have to like it. I'm a fan of Welles' output, and I think if he hadn't been laboring under an aggressive studio system, as well as perhaps the necessary psychological trauma inherent in creating a "Great Film" the first time around, he might have been able to make more truly complete movies and easily topped this. 7/10 - it probably deserves more, but I want to give it less.

Spider-Man 3 (2007) - I can see why the fans were disappointed. Even I was, though not terribly. I'm not much for superheroes to begin with, and I found the second movie extremely over hyped and thus a let-down; and, having heard for two years how bad the third film was, I didn't have very high expectations for it at all. But even those were broken about half-way through the film. I mean, emo Spidey song-and-dance sequence? That crossed all bounds of good taste. And what poor use they made of the wonderful Bryce Dallas Howard! She practically strolls in looking like a Barbie doll, is involved in a very cool action sequence, kisses Spidey, is annoying for five minutes, participates in aforementioned horrendous "dance" scene, and disappears. That's not a role, it's ... it's ... I don't know what it is, but it made me angry. Some of the writing was so bad too, and I stopped counting the different roles Harry Osborne played in the story. The real shame is that they had some really good scenes and situations mixed in there too. Oh, and Venom. Though he didn't show up until it was too late. 4/10

Amazing Grace (2007) - Now here's a movie from the same year that I love. It didn't do nearly as well in the box office, of course, but it's a well-written, engaging human story, wonderfully put to film. The William Wilberforce story is amazing and hugely inspiring, and it's incredible how true to Wilberforce's faith and values the screenplay is. And the cinematography! Lovely. And the cast, basically, is made up of some of the finest British actors of our day - Ioan Gruffud, my lovely Romola Garai , Ciaran Hinds, Michael Gambon, and the absolutely sensational Albert Finney. Not bad for a $5 Wal-Mart DVD. 9/10

I also watched the 1969 version of David Copperfield tonight, thanks to our very own johobbit, who bought it and sent it to me (and Meltinalle, who encouraged her in buying it). It's late and I plan to write a lengthy review up of it, so that one will have to wait.

I'm looking forward to UP on DVD too.

Interesting thoughts on the Beckinsale/Paltrow Emmas, Kate and lys. I've only seen the Beckinsale version once, and it suffered a bit because I had already seen and loved the Paltrow version, which I do think is much funnier and more... sprightly. Also, the Paltrow version has a simply delightful score, one of my (admittedly many) favorites. I don't think the music in the Beckinsale version was anything memorable.

*wonders why his spoiler box looks different from some other people's*

If you do this: (SPOILER=Jane Eyre, for example)spoilers here!(/SPOILER), it will give your spoiler a title. If you don't use the = info, it will just show up as black lines, which is fine I guess. I like now that you can use spoiler tags right in the middle of a sentence without breaking it out into a new paragraph.

*also enjoys the Jackson King Kong, even if she will be persecuted for it*

Aww, I really like The Importance of Being Earnest, lys! (Though I agree with you about the tattoo. The dancing-girl flashback could have been much worse.) Of course, I haven't read the play, so the film version is all I know. I just think it's fun. And I agree, Anna Massey stole the show! She was so cute, especially with the vicar.

I really enjoy both of the recent Batman films. Initially I thought I liked Batman Begins better, but every time I see The Dark Knight I am reminded just how good it is. The music for both is stunning too.

Valkyrie was good, ILF. It was hard though, watching it and knowing what was going to happen. I don't know that I would rush out to borrow it again from the library, but it was certainly well made.

I watched Citizen Kane for a film class in college. I enjoyed it but a lot of the technical stuff probably went right over my head. "Heartless" is a good word to describe it, I think.

You found Amazing Grace for $5? Cool! We love that movie.

Who here has seen His Girl Friday with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell? I borrowed it from the library because it looks like it could be fun.

Oh, and how about the Best Picture of 1962, Lawrence of Arabia? We'll probably be watching that soon and I'm curious if others here have seen it.

*waits (im)patiently for lys' review of David Copperfield* I still haven't watched my copy yet. I'd like a few other people in my family to have read the book first, I guess.

ww, I saw Lawrence last summer. I really liked it. The cast and crew did a stellar job. There are a few parts that aren't very fun to watch

I take it you don't like Audrey Hepburn at all, eh, QueenLucy?

Nope, not at all! LOL.

I just recently saw Casablanca ant thought it was utterly fantastic. It was a true masterpiece of a movie, and Bogart was very good in it, as well. Four stars!

I have yet to see Citizen Kane, but I will soon. We have it in the house, somewhere.

@ Lys. Hmm, something tells me you really dislike The Birds and PJ's King Kong..... I'll agree that neither are "great" films, but they are fun.

*has seen Citizen Kane and agrees with Ly's and ww opinion on it*

Going back to the Batman films: It's kind of odd, I prefer the film Batman Begins, but I like the score to TDK better. *shrugs*

*needs to see Lawrence of Arabia*

Speaking of desert films, has anyone here seen the 1975 Sean Connery film The Wind and the Lion? It's a family favorite of ours. Good Jerry Goldsmith score as well.

WiseWoman- What you should know about the Walmart $5 DVD bin is that the cases tend to be very cheap: think, those recycled cases. (My parents bought Valkyrie (for us) and Amazing Grace (for grandparents) both at WallyWorld and the cases were sorry.) Not that would stop us from getting a bargain at the $5 bin, just thought you'd like to know.

We watched A Knight's Tale on Friday. It was 6.5 of 10. It had good acting and the plot was pretty good, but the music was just weird.

I was looking though my posts on the old forum and found my favorite movies list. So, I add and removed some movies... and here it is my newest list of favorite movies.

My Favorite Movies

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Lord of the Rings
Fireproof
Faith Like Potatoes
The Patriot
Gladiator
Band of Brothers
Come What May
Horatio Hornblower Saga
Behind Enemy Lines
Amazing Grace
Blood Diamond
Silverado
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
The Hunt for Red October
The Great Escape
Horse Soldiers
Stalag 17
The Fuller Brush Man
Whistling in Brooklyn
You Can't Take It with You
It Happened One Night
Arsenic and Old Lace[/list1lv43re0]

SnowAngel


Christ is King.

Yeah, that $5 bin is filled mostly with forgettable movies, but occasionally one comes across a real keeper. Just make sure they're widescreen for best cinematic effect.

It Happened One Night

Oh, I completely forgot about It Happened One Night! That is one of the sweetest movies of all time! 4/5

I just saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I love F. Scott Fitzgerald's work, but I had never heard that he wrote this story. So, I watched the movie, and thought it was almost flawless. The story was brilliant, the acting was great, and the overall production was beautiful. Yes, it was depressing, but worth it. 4.5/5

The ending of Benjamin button was sad.

SnowAngel, you've never heard of Queen's music before? Or do you mean their music didn't really suit the medieval era of the movie? I thought it was enjoyable. You don't see A Knight's Tale for historical accuracy.

I most recently watched Dark City - The Director's Cut. It was the director's original vision before the bigwigs made him cut it down. It improves an already great movie.

IloveFauns: Yes! *I cried. *

That reminds me of when all these people looked ta me when i laughed when

That reminds me of when all these people looked ta me when i laughed when dumbledore was about to die.

How ironic! I did the same thing! We were watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and I began to giggle when ...I got stared at, yes.

Whoa folks...spoiler boxes please! It's a safe bet most of us have seen the movies in question, but I haven't seen the HP films and I'm assuming that's a major plot point on down the road in the storyline.