What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend?

[doodler]

That's an interesting idea.

[ingmarnicebbmt]

We saw BEGINNERS yesterday, on DVD.

Excellent, fine "little" movie with good performances. Lovely soundtrack. Modest and smart screenplay.

Plummer and Laurent are great, but Ewan McGregor (a long time favourite for me) is extraordinary.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I accepted an invitation from a friend to see Hunger Games at a screening last night.

Some thoughts:  It's an interesting film and well-made, but the whole idea of it is pretty creepy.
There was an independent film several years ago about a reality show where the contestants
hunt down each other to kill and it reminded me of that.  What I really don't get is why this
film is so popular and connecting with people.  I can't see embracing a fiim like this.  Films
like this usually become cult films with a segment of people that love them, but not wholly
embraced by theatregoers.  Strange to me.

My friend, who's read two of the books and seen the movie 4 times disagrees with me, but I
thought Jennifer Lawrence was a bore on screen.  She did nothing for me.

I thought a climactic scene on a metal cornucopia was badly directed.  I had to ask my
friend what actually happened there.

I liked the second song in the end credits by Taylor Swift.

I'd recommend it to those who have an interest in seeing it.  I don't think it's
a must see, unless you're just curious what all the fuss is about.  I thought it
was creepy, but had it's moments.  But so was Mirror Mirror and I just thought
that was bad.
 

[Cally]

That's interesting, Lyle. If Jennifer Lawrence isn't a charismatic Katniss I'd imagine the film would lack cohesion. I was completely gripped by the first book (the other two slightly less so, but enough to make me read to the end), and mainly because I was so involved with Katniss as an intriguing  character - although I must admit I was pretty gripped by the plot too, and how she would survive without violating her principles to an unbearable extent.

I probably will see it, but will have to wait for dvd now, i think.

[Cally]

We saw BEGINNERS yesterday, on DVD.

Excellent, fine "little" movie with good performances. Lovely soundtrack. Modest and smart screenplay.

Plummer and Laurent are great, but Ewan McGregor (a long time favourite for me) is extraordinary.

I'll be going for the dvd of this, Ing.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

If Jennifer Lawrence isn't a charismatic Katniss I'd imagine the film would lack cohesion. I was completely gripped by the first book (the other two slightly less so, but enough to make me read to the end), and mainly because I was so involved with Katniss as an intriguing  character - although I must admit I was pretty gripped by the plot too, and how she would survive without violating her principles to an unbearable extent.

I probably will see it, but will have to wait for dvd now, i think.

I did say my friend who has read two of the three books and seen the film 4 times
disagrees with me!  He thinks she is perfect.  I would see it in a theater, it's got many
nice visual treats.

[oilgun]

Well, I did my duty as a supporter of Canadian film and saw Guy Maddin's KEYHOLE on its opening weekend.  We were maybe 5 or 6 in the theatre.  I'm actually surprised that the film even got released in a theater, his stuff is not exactly mainstream fair, he is inspired by silent films and german expressionism.  I kinda loved it but have no idea what it was all about, lol!  

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOVdCXYqxWk

In his latest film, Guy Maddin takes you on a tour through a haunted funhouse. Downstairs, a gangster goes at it with his boss’s girl. Upstairs, a geriatric narrator (Louis Negin) rattles the chains tying him to the bed of his daughter (Isabella Rossellini) and repeatedly urges his son-in-law Ulysses (Jason Patric) to “remember, remember.” Patric, suffering from amnesia, stalks the corridors in between, slowly getting at his abandoned house and abandoned wife. He’s got a drowned girl (Brooke Palsson) and a gagged-and-bound boy (David Wontner) in tow. A grieving doctor (Udo Kier) attends to the dead and living alike. So there are lots of ghosts to dodge along the way.
There are also ghosts to find: the goal of this Homeric quest is the recalling and releasing of dead characters and stories from each of the rooms. This is Maddin’s first outright fiction film after two autobiographical ones, but, like My Winnipeg in particular, it features a series of reconstructed scenes from the protagonist’s past. It’s also Maddin’s first movie shot in digital. As such, it doesn’t have that grainy, fuzzy-edged look that’s associated with his work. But it’s still retro-expressionist in style.
The surreal plot and dialogue are also true to Maddin’s signature vision. The film is a mix of Greek myth and old-school gangster flick that makes you feel like you’re walking through a boozy Halloween party. You catch a glimpse here and there of muttering and anachronistically (or under-) dressed characters, all stumbling around. Everyone talks self-importantly or incomprehensibly; people make silly jokes and get into absurd situations. And you? Your vision ain’t so good, either.
http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/2012/04/12/weekly-round-up-52/

It was nice to see Jason Patric, he is such a charismatic actor and so underused.
That infamously creepy (yet strangely (homo) erotic) scene of his from Your friends and Neighbours is seared in my mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ4LNIshI4o

Did you know?
Jason Patric is the grandson of Jackie Gleason
and the son of Jason Miller (Father Damian in The Exorcist)

[canmark]

Re: The Hunger Games

I found the movie rather boring myself, however, I think the good thing about it is that it's a tent pole movie with a strong female protagonist. I think it's important that teenage girls see examples of plucky female characters like Katniss, like the Kate Winslet character in Titanic, like Hermione in the Harry Potter series, etc. Women should not just be the girlfriend or the damsel in distress. Girls can kick butt, too.

[ingmarnicebbmt]

I'll be going for the dvd of this, Ing.

That's a movie for you!

 

[oilgun]

This weekend I caught Kitten With a Whip on TV.  Strangely, I don't think I had ever seen this camp classic.  At first i was rolling my eyes, but soon enough i was hooked and ended up really enjoying it.  Anne Margret is gorgeous as the delinquent with the borderline personality disorder.  

Samuel Fuller should have made it. Or David Lynch. Kitten with a Whip famously opens with a shot of girls' reformatory escapee Jody Dvorak (Ann-Margret) darting across a rail yard at midnight in her nightie, unsuccessfully trying to hitch a ride on a train. Accompanied by a music track of bongos in reverb, desperate Jody makes her way to the comfortable suburban San Diego home of one David Stratton, played by John Forsythe. Wealthy businessman David, whose semi-estranged wife is conveniently out of town, is preparing to run for the US Senate, so when his friends and his political handler drop him off at home after dinner out, he's more than a little surprised to find lissome Jody curled up in his daughter's bedroom, cuddling a stuffed animal.
[...]
Jody sizes up David lickety-split. She sobs, he melts. She's a troubled youth, a victim of abuse. She shows him her scars, and delivers the first of many howlers: "That's the Jody doll. You wind her up and any way you point her she turns out lousy!" Ann-Margret, at least at this point in her career, was a sincerely rotten actor, and the fudgy screenplay (by Douglas Heyes from a novel by "Wade Miller" -- H. William Miller and Robert Wade), which teases the sexual titillation from every possible angle, indulges her with umpteen laugh-out-loud exclamations: "Don't you ever bruise me!" "I can't help it. I see something all bright and shiny, and right away I gotta pull it apart." "You're sick!" In a wonderful scene, David sneaks down to the local women's clothing shop to buy Jody a new outfit, and naturally he gets caught by a family friend, a snoopy old bag who of course notices the sexy duds aren't his wife's size. Jody blackmails him for his generosity, leaves some claw marks on his chest (still more evidence!), and David begins hitting the scotch. He doesn't want sex from Jody. Uh-uh. And she didn't mean to stab that matron at the reform school. Oh no.

The movie opens up, if that is the word, with the appearance of Jody's partners in crime: smooth hipster Ron (played by teen-pic regular Peter Brown), muscle guy Buck (Skip Ward, blond surfer goon of countless beach party matinees), and daffy Midge (Diane Sayer), who spends her screen time repeating variations of "It's so neat!" They take David hostage, and youth-market clichés run wild. Ron is a poli-sci student in coat and tie who moonlights as a dope smuggler and says things like: "Cool it, you creep, and coexist!" and "I'm bleedin' booze!" Their frantic road trip to Mexico is the best part of the movie -- it gets them out of David's house and treats us to the leftover sets from Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, along with Henry Mancini's uncredited music from the same film. For sheer dumb entertainment with a whisper of cautious sleaze, Kitten with a Whip has it all over anything in the Ann-Margret filmography. One warning, though: there's not a whip in the entire movie.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/hello-ooo-kitty/Content?oid=1066997

[gattaca]

After much badgering with the kido pointing out that this film had actually gotten high marks (> 90%) on Rotten Tomatoes, I took him and his buddy to see it Friday evening.   Going in I really expected it to be another slash-n-dash movie but then I noticed that Joss Whedon was one of the writers ("Firefly") and gave it a chance.   It's premise is totally a twist on reality TV but it was funny in a weird sort of way as a formulaic flick, but then again not. 

I would not pay full price to see this but if you are a Whedon fan, then this will be on your must see list.  If you liked "Men in Black" then you might enjoy this - tough call.

Joss -> http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923736/

Rotten Tomatoes -> https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cabin_in_the_woods/

Ebert -> http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120411/REVIEWS/120419993/1023
(You may not want to read Ebert until you see the film, spoiler alert)

Later, Vincent

[Jeff Wrangler]

Saturday afternoon, while I was doing housework, I decided to check out what was on TCM. I was just in time to catch a thriller from 1969 (?--should double check that date instead of relying on my memory) called Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? with Ruth Gordon, Geraldine Page, Rosemary Forsythe, and Robert Fuller (I always thought he was hot!). I thought it was pretty good.

Duh ... Edit to Add:

I also saw the beginning and the ending of Sunrise at Campobello, a movie I've wanted to see for some time. I had to miss the middle because I had to run out and do an errand that couldn't wait till the movie was over. FDR was probably the signature role of Raymond Massey's long career. Greer Garson was good (as usual) as Eleanor Roosevelt, though she sure looked a fright with fake protruding teeth.

[bubba]

Re: The Hunger Games

I found the movie rather boring myself, however, I think the good thing about it is that it's a tent pole movie with a strong female protagonist. I think it's important that teenage girls see examples of plucky female characters like Katniss, like the Kate Winslet character in Titanic, like Hermione in the Harry Potter series, etc. Women should not just be the girlfriend or the damsel in distress. Girls can kick butt, too.

I agree with you 100% (well except for the boring part  )  very important !

[Lyle (Mooska)]

This weekend I caught Kitten With a Whip on TV.  Strangely, I don't think I had ever seen this camp classic.  At first i was rolling my eyes, but soon enough i was hooked and ended up really enjoying it.  Anne Margret is gorgeous as the delinquent with the borderline personality disorder.  

I also like this film because it is so of the time it was made.  And, what a title!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Why do reviewers keep making jokes about the characters participating in the Hunger Games
in the film not looking hungry?  Did they not see the film?  They basically take all the selectees
to a place where they train them and fatten them up for several weeks.