I saw The Social Network today, I loved it- (so far my favorite of the year, together with Inception)

I had high expectations for it, and they were met. The acting was amazing, the story was brilliant, the execution was nicely done. I definitely expect to hear lots more of this come the Oscars.

PS.
The movie does have some contents that some of members here might find unsuitable.

Yeah, I saw The Social Network last night as well and it's an excellent movie. I didn't enjoy it as much as The Town or Shutter Island but it was by far better than anything else released this year (I've seen 26 films that have been released in 2010).

I agree with all of narnian1's comments. The acting was great- Jesse Eisenberg is getting Oscar buzz for his performance, and Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer were both very good in their perspective roles. I was also impressed with Justin Timberlake, who I wasn't expecting much from. David Fincher is an actor's director though and knows how to get great performances from his cast. The directing and editing were brilliant, definitely one of Fincher's best directoral efforts, and that's saying a lot, as he also directed Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Aaron Sorkin's screenplay was also impeccable, and the sharp, witty dialogue was among the best that's been onscreen this year. In February, I see it getting Oscar nom's for at least Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and possibly a Best Actor nod for Jesse Eisenberg. I, along with many critics, would say that it has firmly established itself as the frontrunner for Best Picture this year.

bkey, Some are still scared to call it the frontrunner so early in the Oscar race though. A thing to definitely be scared about so early on. Andrew Garfield is also getting noticed for a possible Supporting Actor nod, which I hope he gets. He was my favorite in the movie, followed by Hammer and Eisenberg- all three were terrific!! (Justin Timberlake was very good too)

I've seen 28 movies that have been released in 2010, some on rental. The Town was terrific too but I was underwhelmed with Shutter Island, though it wasn't bad either.

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I just got from a sneak preview of Life As We Know It, it opens officially next week. As the trailers make clear, as well as the audience with me, this is definitely geared as women (the few guys there were with wives/girlfriends). The movie was pleasant. Very enjoyable, if a bit predictable.

narnialover4: my parents saw that movie and they loved it! though my mom said that it is rather freakish in parts, but she liked it a lot

Thought I'd pop in here and give my review on Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps that I saw this week in theaters.

For some reason I always rate movies on a scale of 1-4:
1-blah
2-merely okay
3-pretty good
4-really good/would buy on dvd

Anyway, I would rate Wall Street 2 a 4/4.

Acting--believable, good. I'm not a huge fan of Shia Labouf, but I was happy to see his acting seems to have improved a bit from Eagle Eye. Not Oscar-winning or anything but decent, good.
Micheal Douglas--very good
Carey Mulligan--the highlight of the film for me, and the main reason I went to see it. I'm quite pleased to say that her talent in An Education wasn't just a one time thing. She's really a excellent, solid actress, and she has the most believeable crying scenes ever. Every scene she was in just shone!
Sarah Saradon--a minor character, but the few times she was on screen it was again that "star quality" and an excellent performance from her.

I found the plot interesting and the whole money/wall street/stocks/etc theme rather fascinating. Maybe not for everyone, but I loved it. I rather like money, so it was interesting to see that side of it which I previously didn't know much about.
I liked the contrast between Shia's character, a "Wall Street guy" who is ambitious and wants to get ahead in the world, with Micheal Douglas's character, who is more of a "has been" in the world of money, and who is also ambitous and loves money but has, as Shia's character says in the film, "nothing"--no family who loves him, nothing worth living for.
The movie brought out many good thoughts about money--it didn't make it out as a good or bad thing, but brought out pros and cons to having it, and showed characters who made varying choices about it.

So yeah. Good movie.

I went to see How To Train Your Dragon this evening. I loved it.

Just got back from seeing "Secretariat" with my wife. We both loved it.
You know the horse is going to win, but you cannot help but cheer himon anyway
One local critic said it was slow in parts What do the critics know

Tomorrow I will be seeing Never Let Me Go, and hopefully Secretariat. Glad to know you enjoyed Secretariat, I love this kind of movie- inspirational, underdog going for the win.

I want to watch Like Dandelion Dust...love the book and the trailer looked good.

You mean the book by Karen Kingsbury?! I have that book! I had no idea they were making a movie out of it...
When does it come out?

I really want to see Secretariat. It looks amazing.

Haha, I saw the trailer to that new animated movie Gnomeo and Juliet -- the Shakespeare play, only it's garden gnomes instead of people, and it's an animated movie coming to theaters. Anyone else heard of it? Kind of a cute plot idea... I don't know how good it'll be, or if I want to see it yet though.

~Riella

I have fallen in love with a big red horse!

I just got back from seeing Secretariat! *squee* This movie is absolutely FANTASTIC! I'd have to say that it is the best Disney movie I have seen in YEARS! It's rated PG, but it is easily a family film and great for all ages. I don't remember a single bad word. There's one spot where they are dancing and it's like huh? but it's like 10 seconds long and they are being silly not inappropriate. The visuals are stunning. The characters are memorable.

For those who may be concerned that this is a "horse" focused movie, it's not. It's more about the people behind the horse. It's a combo though.

The movie actually opens with a quote from the book of Job, chapter 39:

19 "Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

20 Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?

21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.

22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.

23 The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.

24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

It fit. Oh boy did it fit! Ok... I'll wrap up my review, but I dearly loved the movie and plan on seeing it again!

Never Let Me Go, very good movie with solid acting. Though I admit to having wanted more than what I got. 7/10 stars.

Secretariat, also a very good movie, Diane Lane did a terrific job in her role. This was just what I expecting, a nice family movie- I'm not totally in love with it as starkat is, but it is a movie worth watching. 7/10 stars.

Like Dandelion Dust is a very good movie. I saw it back in April and it had me bawling in several parts. It's very well acted and believable. The story was very touching and made some very good points

Has anyone seen Legend of the Guardians? I hope to maybe watch it in theaters

narnian1, it's probably because I am absolutely and totally horse crazy. I did think about it from a non-horse person's perspective and it was still a great movie. They don't go into a lot of the training terms and what not. They keep it on a very understandable level. It's a good movie even if you aren't horse crazy.

Oh and if you compared it say to Seabiscuit... I'd say 'biscuit is more of a movie about horse racing industry as a whole. It focuses on one horse and the world around it at the time. Secretariat on the other hand focuses on one particular group and not so much on the time period around it. It's hard to compare the two especially with the content issues 'biscuit has.

I love the fact that they filmed the Derby at Churchill Downs. One thing though... The track stands have been modified since that time period, so it is quite a bit more built up. I know they couldn't have helped that part, but I was thrilled to watch areas I've been to before. (I went to on a tour of Churchill Downs once during a non-racing season time.) They did catch little things like modifying the iconic signs that are directly related to the Derby. It added a great touch.

I could still see the one thing I had issues with on 'biscuit, but it wasn't quite as noticeable this time around since the cinematography was so different. In Seabiscuit, you can see the jockeys standing in their stirrups to slow their horses while 'biscuit passes. You can see it in a couple of the horses' reactions in Secretariat, but it's something you have to watch for and it's barely noticeable. I was very happy about that.

starkat,

oh definitely, I would never compare Secretariat with Seabiscuit, (which was a great movie as well). Although both are horse racing, they are different movies entirely and the feel of the movies are drastically different, too different to compare them fairly.

Secretariat, as I said, was very good. But there was just some small detail missing for me to actually fully love the movie. But I will have to see it again, rental, to know for sure how I feel about it.

and I'm not horse crazy, though I generally love the movies I have seen about horses. But like you said, a non-lover of horses should still be able to enjoy this movie very much. I enjoyed it a lot, I just personally could have used a tiny bit more on it.

I saw The Social Network yesterday. I'll preface this by saying that there are elements that are not at all family-friendly. It was not (as I originally thought) a clean story about nerdy Harvard computer programmers. It was a very good movie, but I didn't love it nearly as much as bkey and narnian1. The acting and quality were top notch, but as far as story goes, it just moved very slowly and was mostly about business and law--2 subjects that interest me very little. It was also very sad. No one in the movie was happy.

narnain1: did you see Never Let Me Go? I read the book and I think that both Cary Mulligan and Andrew Garfield are amazing actors and Keira Knightley is really very good too. It's an interesting story with a great cast, so I hope it's good. I'm waiting for our local indie theatre to get it.