I just RedBox'd Alice in Wonderland and Percy Jackson. Alice is just like your typical Tim Burton with Johnny Deep: Wierd. It definately wasn't as wierd as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but it was wierd. I did like the approach that it was 'after the original', but I was definately not too impressed.

Percy Jackson is still one of the better Greek Mythology movies I've seen. I'd easily see this over the new Clash over and over again. Better acting, better action, better script, better soundtrack, better story, shall I continue? Clash's action is bigger, but bigger does not mean better. But that's talking from movie to movie, not making any reference to the book.

Not much else on my urgent to see list right now as far as past movies are concerned. I'll probably catch some of the summer flicks that I never got to see when they come out.

I finally got around to watching the Percy Jackson movie, and I thought it was just okay. As a big fan of the books, I was disappointed that it wasn't a very faithful adaptation. I think that

We just watched Troy, again in our school. It's just annoying when all the girls in our school go crazy on Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom.
In the story, I was voting more on Prince Hector since he looks kind and brave. Achilles? Well, I admire his strength and courage plus heart, but I kind of resented his behavior when he got mad at Hector.
On my opinion of Helen? Well, she really is pretty but escaping with Paris wasn't much of a good idea. Even though her husband is obviously cheating her, still, she is the wife, making it illegal to go with other men and not yet "annulled".

The whole story was great, especially the action, the Trojan Horse, and the characters. This made me read more about Greek Mythology.

It's been many years since I read the Illiad, so I don't know how the movie Troy stacks up against it. I seem to recall Achilles was the Greek's big hero and Hector was his Trojan equivalent...I remember thinking Hector was a good and honorable man but his brother Paris was kind of a dweeb. My favorite character was Ajax, because he was a good and honorable warrior and he has the coolest name in the story.

How well does the movie translation hold up? I've not seen it before.

Troy had some good action at times but the naked bottoms were far too prevelant for me to enjoy the movie. Also, it just seemed badly written and not all that realistic in terms of casting.

I too don't know my greek mythology to tell how accurate Troy was, but as a movie goes, I really enjoyed it. No it wasn't Oscar-winning or anything but it had some great action, interesting storylines, and good cast of main characters.

I saw the 1963 version of Cleopatra...it was...meh? I can see how it was considered so big and epic back then, and the scene where Cleopatra arrives in Rome was pretty spectacular, but overall I wasn't a fan of the film. For one thing it was reallyreallyreally long. Like three hours or something? And Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra...well she didn't do her justice. I felt as though if the sets were suddenly changed mid-movie to bring the film to the 1960's, we wouldn't notice any difference because Elizabeth would be acting the same, if that makes sense. And I didn't like how they took the role of such a independant, intelligent queen and turned it into a huge love triangle. Oh, and the costumes were just horrid. A few were "okay" but a few were just...the early 60's version of "ancient egypt"
I've ordered the 1930's version of Cleopatra from the library, so hopefully that comes soon. We'll see how it lives up. Also I've heard rumors (not sure if it's for sure or not yet) of Angelina Jolie playing Cleopatra in a remake. I say, if the costumes are historically accurate this time, go for it! I definetly think she has that "It" factor that Cleopatra needs.

*thinks of other movies she's seen recently*

The Devil's Arithmetic...this was a story about a teenager (Kirsten Dunst) who travels back in time to when her aunt and relatives were trying to survive in jewish concentration camps. I think it was made for TV, but it was actually quite decent, I'd highly reccomend it.

Saving Private Ryan I've heard good things about this, but I actually *cough* found it a bit boring? Once they found the Ryan they were looking for, I kinda got bored and never finished it. Technically, the movie was well done, but it just didn't hold my attention.

I also watched Troy last week for the first time on TV.
I had always wanted to watch it.
I agree with those above. I liked it and enjoyed it, not the greatest adaptation but definitely not bad. I Loved Eric Bana as Hector.
I thought it was funny that both Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean were in it together, Now I know what it would look like if Legolas and Boromir were fighting against each other.

Valiant Lucy, Cleopatra is about 320mins long. That's well over 3 and half hours! Just too long for that kind of movie. Lord of the Rings managed to do it but it had more of a story to tell. Most movies can't sustain that kind of duration and Cleopatra is one such example.

Here's a photo of Monica Bellucci (Passion of the Christ, The Matrix Reloaded etc.) as Cleopatra from the French movie Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (a movie adaptation of the popular comic book - Asterix and Cleopatra). She's not the strongest actor but she looks the part. Recognise the man to the right? He's the grocer assistant from another French movie - Amelie.

And another of her. I'm loving her costume.

Hey W4J, was that Asterix and Obelix film based on these guys?:

My favourite Euro-comics from my childhood next to Tintin.

Weighing in on Troy, I think it was very good production and reasonably close to the source material (if I recall correctly, it's been a few years since I last read Homer or Virgil's accounts), though the Mythological aspects are played down, and the gods practically non-existent, in favour of a more "Historical" fiction approach.

I actually thought the casting and acting was well done overall. Brian Cox was particularly awesome as Agamemnon, and I liked Brad Pitt as Achilles, and Sean Bean had a commanding presence as Odysseus.

The sets and costume design were excellent, and most of the CGI work was good, though the massive fleet scene was a bit overwrought.

GB

Troy had some good action at times but the naked bottoms were far too prevelant for me to enjoy the movie. Also, it just seemed badly written and not all that realistic in terms of casting.

Yeeeah, the naked bottoms were, woooo, never mind. The thing about Troy is that it helps some gain more knowledge in mythologies because me, I have a hard time stacking up my head with myths, but the movie helped me to learn most of the character's myths.

It's been many years since I read the Illiad, so I don't know how the movie Troy stacks up against it. I seem to recall Achilles was the Greek's big hero and Hector was his Trojan equivalent...I remember thinking Hector was a good and honorable man but his brother Paris was kind of a dweeb. My favorite character was Ajax, because he was a good and honorable warrior and he has the coolest name in the story.

How well does the movie translation hold up? I've not seen it before.

Well, all I can say is that it's great. Some say it violated the mythology but to me, it's just fine because I like the mix of drama, action, and some comedy too if that's what some call some scenes that are funny.

Last night, I just watched in Star Movies, Nim's Island. I cried a bit because the story was really touching since Nim and I too share something in common.
Gerard Butler was great in the movie, made me see his other side of acting because I knew him as an action kind of actor because of 300. All in all, I like this movie a lot.

I think that if you're going to do Greek mythology, it should be necessary to include the supernatural elements.

Gandalf's Beard, yes, that Asterix and Obelix movie is based on the Gaul cartoon characters. I've only read most of the comics, I haven't seen the movie yet (but I'm going to reserve it from my library). Looks good!
Tintin is still my favourite but the Asterix books are still enjoyable (just very different and a bit repetitive after awhile).

I know Asterix...they had a 2 hour cartoon movie on Disney waaaaay back in the mid-80's. We had a Danish exchange student at the time and he told us that it was popular overseas. We'd never heard of it before, but we watched and I have to admit it was pretty funny stuff. I haven't seen it since but I do remember.

The Illiad is loaded with mythology. The gods are always stepping in and intervening on behalf of one side or the other. I seem to recall there were two camps among the deities...I think Aphrodite (or is it Venus?) was on the side of the Trojans while Ares/Mars was on the Greek side. Lots of back and forth dialogue between them and finally Zeus makes up his mind to throw his lot in with the Greeks for some reason I don't recall, but at great cost to Achilles. The story began some time after the Greeks had already landed and had basically been laying siege to Troy for some unspecified amount of time. When Troy came out I was wondering how they'd play the deity angle since they were so prevalent in the book, but I guess I can understand their skipping it altogether so as to focus on the historical aspects of the event. I always meant to go into the Oddyssey, but never did get around to it.

Just watched Iron Man 2. Boring movie, too much talk and too little action.
It's really been a weak summer concerning movies. I liked Robin Hood the best, Prince Of Persia was ok if you don't have too high expectations. Clash was a bit boring, there was no sense of danger, but the Kraken looked amazing. Percy Jackson, i've never read the book, but

It's really waiting for Harry Potter 7 and especially Voyage Of The Dawn Treader to save the year.

What are you talking about? Both Toy Story 3 and Inception were excellent! Or didn't you see those ones?

Loved Ironman 2: yes I know it was long, a lot of talking, probably cliche and all the rest. But Tony Starke is just an awesome character, in my opinion. He's got a daredevil/nonchalance about him: doesn't take anything too seriously. Which isn't always the best way to go, but it's fun to watch.

Inception was outstanding, I agree with W4J. Very well made, made you think, and quite clean. Adult material, but not adult-only content. Two thumbs up from me.

I think Despicable Me has to top Toy Story 3 though, however much I hate to say it Toy Story is amazing and will most likely win at the Academy Awards, but Despicable Me hit the spot. Extremely quotable (It's so FLUFFY!!!), surprisingly sweet, completely dorky (MINIONS!!!) just about perfect That's one movie I want to buy and keep for those late at night times when you just want to giggle the night away.

I heard that Robin Hood was just meh? Nothing new, completely re-writing the story, making it into a drama rather than comedy? Thoughts anyone? I've been wanting to see it but feeling iffy about it.

Ooh Troy. Entertaining even though it had a modern feel to it. For a while it was on TV at least every week: my dad would flip the channel at the appropriate spots, so I never saw anymore than one or two seconds of problematic content =P
Hector was the best character: pity he had to, well, you know -_- Achilles was a spoiled brat and therefore his admittedly good looks were somewhat soiled. And Paris? He should have manned up waaaaay before the last five minutes of the movie.

Leaving the gods out made it so much more enjoyable. I've read the Iliad for school, and let me tell you, any one god was more spoiled then Paris and Achilles combined. On one of their more particularly bad spoiled days. If that tells you anything. Just sayin.

/that was LONG, sorry.