What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Wally_Hood]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, along with a couple hundred teenaged Potter fans (The were a couple of grownups wearing ties and mufflers in the Gryffindor colors). The Hood family agreed it was slow and it dragged and the pace was slow and draggy, and when it ended, a great many voices in the theater grunted out, "Huh?" Yes, we all knew it HP7 part 1, but the ending seemed ill-timed.

Although I enjoyed director David Yates' previous Potter films, this was a different-feeling movie, more grim than the fun and whimsey of the others. There was a chase that looked like it was lifted from a Paul Greengrass Bourne movie, then shot full of steroids.

However, I did enjoy it overall, especially the fact that so much of it was presented with the idea that we already know what's going, so we don't need no stinkin' exposition.

I am anticipating part two next year, when all the action happens.

 

[lolly_loisides]

A bit of a movie marathon this weekend.
Starstruck (enjoyable 80's fluff)
Lenny (worth seeing for Dustin Hoffman's performance)
Swing Kids I wanted to like this, it's set in 1939 and the soundtrack's great, but I found it unengaging and the ending was super cheesy (with an extra serve of cheesiness).

 

[deadpandiva]

Love Actually & Young Frankenstein. I know, odd combination, but it filled the needs of everyone last night.

Cheers!

Dan

Those are both Great movies.
I watched the first hour of Picnic at Hanging Rock. I will have to rent it to see the rest.

 

[lolly_loisides]

Those are both Great movies.
I watched the first hour of Picnic at Hanging Rock. I will have to rent it to see the rest.

That movie used to give me the willies when I was young!
[video=youtube;08e9QqQP7sY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08e9QqQP7sY[/video]

 

[C44Antelope]

"My Man Godfrey". The boys had their choice of that or "Larceny Inc." Guess next family movie night they'll get the choice of "Larceny Inc." or "Larceny Inc."

 

[Miss Golightly]

The Disappearance of Alice Creed - good thriller.

 

[CopperNY]

"The Prophecy". didn't even remember that it was in the Netflix queue, but i remember why...

great scene chewing by Walken, Stoltz and Viggo.

 

[deadpandiva]

Coalminer's Daughter.

 

[VitaminG]

The Merchant of Venice (2004)

 

[Unlucky Berman]

The Public Eye (1992). A crime story about a top photographer with good connections but the attitude not to get deeply involved in the scenes he is shooting. While falling in love with the club owner and glamorous lady Kay Lewitz, he decides to break with this and soon he finds himself in the middle of mobster war.
The story is interesting and I like Joe Pesci as Leon Bernstein (he even reminds me sometimes about the Penguin in the second Batman by Tim Burton when he strolls around in his coat ). A good Neo-noir and entertaining movie, not as good as Chinatown or other older classics, but better than I would have thought for something of the 90s. Besides Barbara Hershey is just looking stunning there.

 

[Miss Golightly]

Shutter Island - very disappointing.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Young Sherlock Holmes, via that Netflix through your PS3 thing that my youngest knows how to operate.

 

[Undertow]

The Night of the Hunter
Dial M for Murder

Both amazing films I sorely needed to see!

 

[lolly_loisides]

The Night of the Hunter
Dial M for Murder

Both amazing films I sorely needed to see!

It's a shame that The Night of the Hunter was the only film that Charles Laughton directed.

 

[Unlucky Berman]

Night of the Hunter, that's one of my favs too. I saw it the first time as a child and got a pretty bad dream from it. But still, I have fond memories of my, uhm, secret sneakings into the TV room to watch some of the thrillers late in the night when my parents were asleep. :whistling

 

[Widebrim]

If I may quote myself from the Film Noir thread:

Saw The Brasher Doubloon yesterday (poor copy), based on Chandler's The High Window. I had heard many times what a poor Marlowe George Montgomery made, so I had little positive expectation when the film began. Well, of all the Marlowe's I've seen, I would say he is the weakest, and brought little depth to the role (although some of that is likely the director's fault). In addition, his Marlowe was too forward with one of the female protagonists; in the novels, Marlowe hardly touches females involved in his cases (of course, Powell's Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet had the same problem.) Montgomery appeared quite personable, though, and I could see him playing Richard Diamond, Private Detective instead.

The movie version is much more streamlined than the novel, which is understandable considering time restraints, but perhaps too much. Although most of the story takes place in Los Angeles, it didn't have much of a L.A. feel to it. (About all you see to remind you that you're in L.A. is what's supposed to be a boarding house on Bunker Hill, and a neon sign outside of Marlowe's office that says something like "Broadway Hotel, Hollywood.") Perhaps this was due to budgetary constraints on the part of Universal-International; one wonders how the film would have turned out if Paramount, RKO, Fox, or Warners had made it. Even though the cops played a role in the unraveling of the plot, they weren't as crusty as they are in the novel, and Marlowe wasn't as contemptuous of them as he is in print. There were no real interesting camera shots or lighting that I recall, and the dialog seemed a bit flat. At least the ending was more satisfying that that of the novel; the guilty party actually got nailed. (Interesting side-note: one of the actors featured was 19-year-old Conrad Janis, better known for being Mindy's father on "Mork and Mindy," and who is still acting.)

 

[VitaminG]

couples retreat. went in with low expectations and was surprised how much I enjoyed it

 

[Tomasso]

Shutter Island - very disappointing.

Thank You! When I saw the trailer at the cinema something in me said NO. Saved $11 there.....

 

[Edward]

Shutter Island - very disappointing.

What was it you didn't like about it? I enjoyed it a lot myself, but I have heard a lot of folks didn't like it. The trailer seemed to market it as a horror-thriller, which it clearly wasn't so I'm sure that disappointed some. Then there was the matter of the plot. Personally, I very much enjoyed that it was (at least to me) obvious what was going on from an early stage, and there was no 'big reveal'. I find that films made on the 'twist: big reveal at the end' formula (see M Night Shyamalan's oeuvre as the paradigm example) are often far too in thrall to that device at the expense of the story, and don't bear repeated watching. I can however see that someone whose tastes in cinema differ from me might be disappointed to be able to guess what they saw as the 'obvious' ending. I really enjoyed it - some superb performances, and I loved the wardrobe.

 

[Miss Golightly]

What was it you didn't like about it? I enjoyed it a lot myself, but I have heard a lot of folks didn't like it. The trailer seemed to market it as a horror-thriller, which it clearly wasn't so I'm sure that disappointed some. Then there was the matter of the plot. Personally, I very much enjoyed that it was (at least to me) obvious what was going on from an early stage, and there was no 'big reveal'. I find that films made on the 'twist: big reveal at the end' formula (see M Night Shyamalan's oeuvre as the paradigm example) are often far too in thrall to that device at the expense of the story, and don't bear repeated watching. I can however see that someone whose tastes in cinema differ from me might be disappointed to be able to guess what they saw as the 'obvious' ending. I really enjoyed it - some superb performances, and I loved the wardrobe.

First of all - a colleague in work had spoilt the ending for me by revealing the twist (thanks!) - however I wouldn't let that deter me from seeing a movie as there is so much more to a good film apart from the twist! I liked the look of the trailer and thought it looked like my kind of movie. From the outset I didn't like the over-zealous soundtrack - it made the soundtrack from Star Trek seem unobtrusive - for me it swamped scenes and robbed them of any tension. I thought the story telling could have been tighter and each scene could have blended more seamlessly into the next -the story telling seemed a bit clunky to me. Even if I didn't know the ending I think I would have guessed it (my husband did but I refused to tell him if he was on the right track). The movie didn't have the tension that the trailer promised which was a bit of a let down.

I did enjoy the costumes though!