What Movie Did You Just Watch? - Shh! It's Starting!

[Goliath]

Anatomy of a murder (1959)

Now this is the kind of film I like: one where the characters drive the plot forwards. Really everything about this movie is in the psychology and behavior of the characters. This is further advanced by the excellent performances of James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara and George C. Scott (but really everybody is very good). What also helps is the wonderful music of Duke Ellington. The film almost goes off track halfway into the film, when the courtroom scenes begin to drag and the attorney's behaviour become increasingly over-the-top, but it recovers very srtrong with some last-act revelations. The only thing I didn't like was the final verdict on Lt. Manion, because I strongly disagreed with it. But that doesn't make the film any less good.

[ajmrowland]

Cirque du Frique: The Vampire's Assistant-3/5. The movie has a number of flaws, but I enjoy the grotesque nature and the future of the series(if there is a future) has a lot of potential. I may just have to read the books now.

[PeterPanfan]

Serious Moonlight - I know this got panned, but I loved it! Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell, and Justin Long delivered their performances fantastically, even if the script was a bit dry. Highly recommended!

[DaveWadding]

Up in the Air - 8.4/10 - Usually I hate Clooney movies, but this one was actually pretty good. Love Anna Kendrick.[/b]

[Margos]

Waiting for Godot - We read this play in AP Literature, and I wanted to see if any film versions had been made. This one is an Irish, made-for-TV film from 2001. The play was terribly confusing, and this film followed the script perfectly. I much preferred seeing it performed to simply reading the script, as it really made more sense that way. And the two guys playing Gogo and Didi were just excellent. Pozzo was a little creepy, though. Entertaining, if a little slow at certain parts.

[2099net]

Dorian Grey

The late 1800's was the golden age of English literature. Perhaps it was simply because at long last, all social classes and groups had access to some form of education, no matter how slight. Perhaps it was because the printing press had finally lived up to its true potential - enabling books, magazines and periodicals to be published en mass. Or perhaps it was simply because writers knew that they were on the threshold of a bold new Century. Regardless, the late 19th century gave us such great stories as War of the Worlds, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Christmas Carol, The Time Machine, Dracula, Frankenstein, Treasure Island, The Invisible Man, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Prince and the Pauper and many many others, filled with such characters as Sherlock Holmes, Captain Nemo, Scrooge, Long John Silver, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Professor Challenger... and of course Dorian Grey.

Much as I love the literature of this period, I'm somewhat of a hypocrite. I've managed to read the original text of some of these stories, but mostly my experiences and knowledge is based on adaptations - film, TV, even comic book. But really, I don't think that matters - all are stories, characters and creations which are truly timeless creations which not only survive the passing of time, but can also embrace it. In short, each and every story or character can be just as relevant to today as its own era.

Dorian Grey is such a story. It's both deceptively simple (anyone can explain the concept in four or five sentences) while at the same time also deceptively deep. While this film adaptation has taken some liberties with the setting (the ending takes place during WW1) the backbone remains the same.

It would appear the change of era was done to simply show the passing of time visually (horse drawn carriages are replaced by early motor cars) which is fair enough for a visual medium.

Many have said the Ben Barnes is miscast in the title role. I don't agree. While his casting may not be perfect, he's definitely not miscast. The fact that he retains an air of innocence, even as his character descends into deeper and deeper depravity is - I would suggest - sort of the point. The story isn't about a monster on display, its about a hidden monster. The painting remains hidden in the attic and Grey's sins are until the very end, hidden from the populous. So while I do have some reservations about Barns' acting in places, I have no reservations about his appearance or demeanour in the role.

But while Barns may not be perfect casting, Colin Firth most definitely is. I know he's won a BAFTA and been nominated for an Oscar® this year, but really Colin Firth is still one of moviedom's best kept secrets. Why doesn't he have a large profile with the general public? His performance here is -as always - wonderful.

Of course, with a film of The Picture of Dorian Grey, the final reveal is always going to be a problem. How can the final revelation of the portrait ever live up to the viewer's imagination? Sadly, it can't. So what we get here is CGI effects which don't convince and sadly do let the film down. My only real complaint is that really, the viewer would have been better off never seeing the full, decayed portrait which reflected the true depravity of Grey's soul.

I've had this disc lying around for a few weeks, because I never felt the urge to watch it. It was always a disc which I enjoyed the idea of owning it more then the idea of viewing it. I let myself be swayed by mostly average or negative reviews, but I enjoyed each and every minute of it. A fine retelling of the timeless original.

[PixarFan2006]

Back to the Future (1985) - One of my favorite movies, I watched it last night on my PS3/Blu-Ray player (which looked really good for the most part).

While I did not watch it, thought Part II was a decent follow-up while part III was just ans okay conclusion but they just kept rehashing the same gags and situations over and over.

[Goliath]

Suspicion (1941)

Very exciting Hitchcock thriller. He really misled me two or three times about his protaganist's motives, which kept the suspense high until the very end. Cary Grant's performance was flawless, but leading lady Joan Fontaine was mostly over-acting. Loved Nigel Bruce, too.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation saved Hollywood (2003)

Good enough BBC documentary about the new young directors, rising to fame between 1967-1977, who changed the way Hollywood was making films. Not very much in-dept and only scratching the surface, but interesting enough for those who don't know much already about this subject.

[ajmrowland]

Is Dorian Grey on DVD yet?

And World's Greatest Dad-.................................................................................dont really like it.

[2099net]

Is Dorian Grey on DVD yet?

Yes, in the UK. I don't think its even got a US distributor.

[PeterPanfan]

Carrie (1976) - I had seen this before, when I was in fifth grade, but it was on TV so it was obviously heavily edited. I just finished reading "Carrie" by Stephen King, so I wanted to revisit the film and see which one I preferred. I liked the book better, but the movie was still pretty damn great. Margaret White, played by Piper Laurie, delivered all the chills as she reprimanded her daughter for wanting to be a teenager. Carrie, played wonderfully by Sissy Spacek, was also pretty darn scary at the Prom. Just the way she looked at everyone, and the cut-y music, and the split-screen shots. If nothing else, the cinematography in this film was fantastic. Recommended.

Possession - I watched this, obviously, for Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lee Pace. It got heavily panned, but I really enjoyed it. It wasn't Sarah or Lee's breakthrough performance, but they still managed to carry the film on their shoulders. There was suspense and some scares, but no actual horror like the cover marketed it as. It isn't a horror, even... it's more of a mystery/thriller. Recommended.

[carolinakid]

Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Precious (2009)

[zackisthewalrus]

I had a movie marathon with friends yesterday, and we watched:

That Thing You Do!
Hairspray (2007)
A Bug's Life
Grease
and
Up

[DaveWadding]

It Might Get Loud - 9/10 - Great movie featuring 2 of my favorite guitarists (Jimmy Page from Led Zep and Edge from U2) talking about the early days of their bands and trading licks. A 3rd much crappier guitarist (Jack White) was also involved. What a pretentious douchebag.

[PeterPanfan]

Green Zone - Absolutely horrible. It was marketed as another Bourne movie, which is totally was not, yet it still sucked. Not recommended.

[ajmrowland]

Is Dorian Grey on DVD yet?

Yes, in the UK. I don't think its even got a US distributor.

Oh, too bad. No wonder it never got a domestic trailer.

Is there any particular online site that will stream a HQ version?

[jpanimation]

Suspicion (1941)

Very exciting Hitchcock thriller. He really misled me two or three times about his protaganist's motives, which kept the suspense high until the very end. Cary Grant's performance was flawless, but leading lady Joan Fontaine was mostly over-acting. Loved Nigel Bruce, too.

I really wish they would've let Hitch do his original ending, as the current tacked on one just ruins the movie for me, which up until that point was great (I would equal it to Jurassic Park III's equally crappy abrupt-tacked on ending).

2012 (2009) 5/10 - Roland Emmerich presents: Overly-Long Expensive Stereotypical Disaster The Movie. The characters are stereotypes, the movie is long, the story is clichéd, the disaster scenes are expensive looking and repetitive, and it has ALL of Roland Emmerich's trade marks, including a premise with barely any factual basis. We've seen it all before and it just left me quite bored. I was predicting what would happen before it did and just got tired of seeing the same destruction and chaos over-and-over. I'm so glad I rented this on Blu-ray from the library and didn't pay money for it.

The earliest disaster movies (The High and the Mighty, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno), even the ones based on factual events (San Francisco [1936], A Night to Remember [1958]), all had simpler and more effective premises. I'm not sure why Hollywood now-a-days feels that it has to be an end-of-the-world scenario with big special effects to garner attention when all these movies did it far more effectively with far less (you'd think Cameron's Titanic would've proven that). As a matter of fact, 2012's basis is similar to that of When Worlds Collide (1951), which was considered a B movie disaster flick (compared to those simpler disaster movies I mentioned, which were A-grade). Its funny how all the disaster movies of the 30's had the disaster at the very end of the movie, the 70's had them towards the middle and the current crop seem to start right away and take precedent over the characters/story (overpowering the characters, instead of acting as a background element that helps shape our characters).

[Just Myself]

Alice in Wonderland - Comments in the appropriate thread.

Green Zone - A decent action thrieller that fictionalizes certain events in the early stages of the Iraq War. If you're conservative minded, it's almost guaranteed you'll hate it.

Cheers,
JM

[PeterPanfan]

Post Grad - ...Not good. Not at all. I expected more with a cast consisting of Alexis Bledel, Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch, and Carol Burnett, but what we got was a movie with an overused plot, romance, and comedy. None of the 'gags' were funny, nor was the romance sweet. Not recommended.

[pap64]

Breakfast at Tiffany's: I've decided to research classic romance movies for my own story and see how the creators were effective in establishing a moving love story. I started with this one and HOT DAMN! I am still speechless at how great this movie was.

It had everything: drama, romance and comedy. The cast was great, especially Audrey with her lovely accent and wild manners. The big party scene was great in terms of comedy and how it established characters.

The character of Holly is a wonderful one. Yes, she may be with men for their money, but there's an innocence to her about it. It makes the movie and the love story.

And man... that last scene in the rain? I was extremely moved by everything. The music, the cat, the rain, the kiss... It's already one of my all time favorite movie scenes.

The only thing I didn't fully like about the movie is Mr. Yunioshi. I realize that this was common back in the day, and Mickey Rooney did his best, but I thought the over the top stereotype was too much. They could have replaced the character and it still would have the same effect with the need of a stereotype.

But despite this the movie was wonderful. I am now looking forward to the rest of the best romantic movies ever.

Any suggestions guys?