I thought the third movie was good, it wasn't great but it wasn't horrible to me. i watched half of the fourth one, it just wasn't that good to me at all. I guess because newer ideas seem to get old and you don't see the same people from what you've grown up with in those types of movies.

Just finished watching Beowulf. I liked it, but I disliked it
Aestheticly, it was a beautiful films--I loved the costumes, and sets and everything. The soundtrack was great too.
The first 45 mins was pretty wonderful, it stuck as close to the original story as an adaption will. But after that it started getting a little hazy.
My main problem with it is the character of Beowulf isn't as heroic, brave, and good of heart as all the stories make out. He tells the tale of how he battled the sea monsters but instead of saying how he was seduced by a mermaid, he makes up that he killed a sea serpant. Then when he is fighting Grendal, instead of using his superhuman strength like he does in the story to rip off Grendal's arm, he wraps it up with chains and then wedges it in the door. And then there's the whole bit with Grendal's mother...ugh. Which btw was completely "non-canon", as Grendal's mother is supposed to be as ugly as he. Definetly not Angelina Jolie, covered in gold, with built in stilettos (srsly. just lame!). I did think the idea of connecting the dragon in the latter part of the Beowulf stories with the beginning was kinda cool, but still. I totally get the "creating a flawed hero" idea, but he wasn't even really a hero here. I think we need more un-flawed, heroic, true characters...like Beowulf is SUPPOSED to be!
I'd have loved to see more of Beowulf's queen, and his "mistress". They seemed like interesting characters. My only other quarrel with the film (besides the R rated aspect of Grendel's mother ) was Beowulf fighting Grendal in the nude. I didn't find it offensive, just...silly? They kept coming up with lame ways to keep him modest, by obscuring the viewers view with random things like cups, people's arms, shadows, etc. It wasn't a good idea.

So yeah. there's my thoughts. Anyone else seen it and care to share?

Yeah Beowulf was a good film. Just some of the scenes were unbearable. Grendel was done fantastically though.

Beowulf is something I've sorta been wanting to see but the previews made it look more like 300, so for that reason I've been kind of avoiding it. Not that there's anything wrong with 300, mind you (except that is essentially destroys the actual history of the thing and puts glam people in it). We read selections from Beowulf in 12th grade English and everyone told me how scary it would be, but actually I found it to be rather fascinating stuff!

It's been a very long time, going on 20 years, but as I recall...

And that's where my class left off, but I always wanted to check into it and see what happened to the guy. Then many years back, author Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, among many others) published a book he had "found" in some library somewhere about a Persian noble who hooks up with 12 Vikings headed north to Norway because of some family trouble back home, and dubbed it Eaters of the Dead. Really good book. They ended up turning it into a movie called The 13th Warrior starring no less than Antonio Banderas, although the movie kinda swerved dramatically from the book, although I'll admit it did capture the spirit of it. So anyways Crichton's book was revealed to be an elaborate joke on the scientific world (many of whom had fallen for it) and Crichton got a good laugh out of it. At any rate both that book and the Banderas movies are quite obviously lifted from the Beowulf legend, just with some cosmetic differences, which I won't reveal here. Although I'm still trying to figure out how Banderas' character learned the Viking language overnight and then fashioned a scimitar out of a Viking short sword in only a few hours. One of those Hollywood mysteries I suppose.

The Marx Bros' A Night at the Opera:
I enjoyed the one I saw the other day, I enjoyed this one much more! What helped, I saw this with my father and he was just LAUGHING so the movie was funny, and to see him laughing like he was made it seem even funnier still.

The Marx Bros. are great. My favourite movie of there's is Duck Soup.

As promised, I re-watched To Kill A Mockingbird. This time it was much better. A good movie, but not great. There's some great acting from everyone but particularly from the actors/actresses who play Atticus, Scout and Tom Robinson. While the movie is almost always from Scout's perspective, it's not a children's movie, nor does it downplay their antics. I loved the more care-free childhood moments eg. the little touches were great - Scout climbing inside a tyre and rolling down the road, Scout sitting upside down on a chair - that's what kids do! Scout's stubbornness and tomboy ways were a breath of fresh air, especially when considering that many movies of the time had sickly sweet children who were perfect and didn't act like real children. The cinematography is good, with some nice use of light and shadow. The music is very good; I loved the beginning title sequence. Ingenious.
To Kill A Mockingbird is rated G in Australia for General Exhibition. There's no violence, sex, language, supernatural themes - nothing but there are some heavy themes, including: racism, justice, prejudice, domestic abuse, attempted rape and child endangerment. Personally, I'd rate it PG for Parental Guidance. I still don't care for the Southern slang but that's a personal preference of mine. Also, the movie drags towards the end of the courtroom scenes (these scenes seem to be from Atticus' point of view) but overall it was good.

Happy Lysander?

I remember The Marx Bros!

Today I sat down and watched Star Trek for the third time again and still such an amazing movie. Simon Pegg is in it, the guy doing Reepicheep's voice in VDT.

Simon Pegg is quite the character. He's very creative and hilarious. Pity so much of his work has to have so much strong language. I haven't seen the new Star Trek but I might, since J.J. Abrams directed it.

The Marx Bros' A Night at the Opera:
I enjoyed the one I saw the other day, I enjoyed this one much more! What helped, I saw this with my father and he was just LAUGHING so the movie was funny, and to see him laughing like he was made it seem even funnier still.

that's so funny because I was just watching that movie two nights ago! I love it! I grew up watching it and the other Marx Brother's films! they are so funny!

Last night I watched Michael Jackson's This is It. It was a really great movie- if those concerts had really happened, they would have been AMAZING! I loved seeing how MJ acted behind the scenes. Watching that movie makes me wish I could dance better . My only complaint would be that I wish they had done a bit on an interview with MJ at some parts. They interviewed other people (dancers, BGVs, etc) but not him. But it was still a great film! I especially liked Heal the World, Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It, I'll Be There, and Black and White .

Simon Pegg is quite the character. He's very creative and hilarious. Pity so much of his work has to have so much strong language. I haven't seen the new Star Trek but I might, since J.J. Abrams directed it.

I don't remember any strong language used with Simon Pegg's character in Star Trek. I know you'll love it. His character Scotty was just rofl hilarious. His role wasn't really too big but I'm assuming his character will be shown more in the sequel.

I recently (well recently, about two months ago really!) saw Kick-ass. I can tell you, it is AMAZING! It's a great plot, some of the most amazing characters I've seen this year, of which hit girl obviously could beat them all, both literally and figuratively. There was some amazing humor in it, that sort of reminded me of Tarantino. It mocks it's own genre, yet the film doesn't mock itself. There are some cliche parts, but that actually makes the film better, because they work. It's really a piece of art, and without a doubt the best superhero film I've yet seen. I have to add, I haven't seen watchmen yet, I hear that one is pretty good to.

I've also seen Robin Hood, which was okay. It's a good, solid movie, and it's very entertaining, with a good plot and good action, but it isn't the masterpiece I was expecting from Scott. After all, I was expecting something as good as Gladiator. But overall, a film worth watching.

Soon I'll go see prince of persia, toy story 3 and shrek forever after. I'll let you know what I think!

I'm glad someone mentioned that first movie, adamie. I've seen it twice now, and is by far one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I literally think it is one of the best movies to be released since The Dark Knight, and I know I'm not alone in that, as it has very high ratings from critics and movie goers alike (#156 of all-time on IMDB). I agree with all of your comments on the movie, and will certainly be buying it once its released on DVD.

Prince of Persia was kind of good. I was wanting to see Kick-ass but a couple of my friends baled on me at last minute. I still want to get it on DVD once it comes out though.

DamselJillPole, you're correct. Simon Pegg's character may not swear in Star Trek but I know him from his British works and there's a decent amount of strong language in them.