[100ProofBE]

Oh, goodie... an excuse to ramble.

<briefly looks through DVDs>

- Dr. Strangelove: Kubrick + Sellers = genius... the absurdity of war-mongering laid bare

- Shawshank: Like MoonGoddess said, I can watch this over and over again... Morgan Freeman's narration is arguably the best use of the technique ever in film.

- Evil Dead 2: Raimi + Campbell's finest hour... splatstick defined.

- Dead Alive: splatstick redefined... hard to believe this is Peter Jackson... LAWNMOWER!

- Hero: watch it for the amazing swordplay (Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen?? Yes please), stick around for the Far East philosophy.

- Braveheart/Glory: I'm a sucker for a good historical epic...

- Fight Club: I'll never understand how this movie got funded... just glad it did

- Taxi Driver: De Niro at his best... yes, even better than...

- Godfather II: we wouldn't have the Sopranos without it

- Dead Poets Society: some day I hope to be half as good and inspiring a teacher as "O Captain, my captain" ... even if he is a fictional character

- Battle Royale: the acting is shaky at best, but the brutal concept (in order to curb juvenile delinquency, a class of Japanese high-school children are forced to kill each other down to the last boy/girl on a deserted island) and the amazing Takeshi Kitano make it worthwhile... not to mention a thought-provoker. Sequel is getting bad reviews... <shrug>

- Se7en: Kevin Spacey... wow. Between this and Usual Suspects, he could do 50 K-Paxs and I could still respect him.

- Road to Perdition: The cinematography of this movie never ceases to amaze me. Tom Hanks at his absolute best... and the soundtrack sends chills down my spine on every listen.

I could go on forever, but I'll spare you all...

Proof out.  

[100ProofBE]

Greetings, BEA brethren.

For those who might have forgotten, I'm kind of a movie nut. Not quite a movie snob (I actually enjoy some Hollywood movies), but more than a movie buff. In any case, I watch a lot of movies. I'm sure some of you do as well.

So with that said... what you been watchin? Use this as a playground to review movies you've seen, gush about movies you're looking forward to seeing, and recommend movies that other folk may not have seen, but absolutely should.

I finally watched 3:10 to Yuma (http://www.**21**/?http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381849/) the other night and was pleasantly surprised. With the exception of the old Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, I find the majority of westerns painfully boring. I hate to admit it, but Russell Crowe is so good that I actually believed an Australian guy as an old-timey cowboy badass. Though I guess Australia is closer to the American Old West than anywhere in America. In any case, even if you don't like westerns, I suggest you give it a lookie-loo.

For your share of bighugous blockbuster coming attractions, how about a teaser for Iron Man 2 (http://www.**21**/?http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/) and a trailer for the unnecessary but loud Clash of the Titans remake (http://www.**21**/?www.apple.com/trailers/wb/clashofthetitans/)?

Could someone remind me how to insert those links in to the text so I can edit this ugly mess?

[solvegas]

I highly recommend " The Blind Side " . This is Sandra Bullock's best movie by far.

[notty]

Iron Man 2 and Clash of the Titans look like fun, but I'm more excited about Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland. Robin Hood, on the other hand, gets a resounding meh. However, a film written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Ridley Scott deserves a pass for one mediocre trailer.

As for movies I've actually seen recently, Southland Tales was the most memorable. I'm not sure if I liked it or not.

Invictus was like every other Clint Eastwood movie: close to great, but not quite there.

Step Brothers had some brilliant moments. I laughed a lot.

Apocalypto was pretty wild. Not much in the way of plot, but the action was next level.

I wanted to love Inglourious Basterds, but all I felt as I left the theater was a vague sense of disappointment.

The Proposal, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Ugly Truth, etc, were entirely shit. I'll never learn...

[rtpoe]

Thanks to Veoh, I watched "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" last night. You know, the one with Kirk Douglas and James Mason....

All you "steampunk" fans need to give it a look.

And the effects, especially in the Battle with the Giant Squid! You know it was all done with models, machines, lighting, cinematography, and editing, but watching it - it looks so damn real!

[100ProofBE]

Iron Man 2 and Clash of the Titans look like fun, but I'm more excited about Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland. Robin Hood, on the other hand, gets a resounding meh. However, a film written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Ridley Scott deserves a pass for one mediocre trailer.

Agreed on the Ridley/Helgeland combination. After 3:10 to Yuma, I'm much more willing to give Russell Crowe a pass as well. Though I still find it amusing that they can't find a single Englishman to play Robin Hood (after the dreadful Costner Hood and now Aussie Hood).

Sherlock and Alice are going to have to struggle to impress me. I was very excited when they announced Tony Stark/Charlie Chaplin/Harry Lockhart to play Sherlock and I liked that they were trying for a "different" take on the character (Ex-Mr. Madonna claimed he was going for a tone more akin to the original stories), but the trailers look like Victorian Wild Wild West. Too many explosions and one-liners. As for Alice, RX and I have had this discussion about Tim Burton many times. I would argue he hasn't done anything original or interesting since what... Nightmare Before Xmas? And even that was more Henry Selick's brainchild. He's seemingly becoming a parody of himself creating predictable Hot Topic versions of beloved children's stories. And while I really like that he's not just retelling the same tired Alice story (plus the fantastic cast: Alan "Effing" Rickman, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Crispin Glover, and of course Johnny Depp in full-on Fop Mode), I can't help but feel he's just chasing his own tail trying to give people what they expect from him and not what he's capable of. This is the point where RX usually nods her head and says "shut up and watch the movie". So while I'm keeping an open mind for both movies, I have misgivings. Your results may vary.

I wanted to love Inglourious Basterds, but all I felt as I left the theater was a vague sense of disappointment.

And here I thought I was the only person on Earth who didn't think Tarantino was God's gift to filmmaking. Appreciate the guy's unabashed love of film, but I haven't wholeheartedly liked anything he's done save for Reservoir Dogs (yes, that includes Pulp Fiction). Then again, I still haven't watched Basterds so I'll reserve judgment.

The Proposal, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Ugly Truth, etc, were entirely shit. I'll never learn...

<snicker> It's like boys with Transformers... we're suckers for robots and explosions no matter how godawful the movie is.

I'm hoping to get some movies watched while we're snowed in this weekend. Here's to hoping!!

[Shara]

I just watched Inglourious Basterds, great movie with annoying spelling
Transformers 2 turns into a fucking sitcom halfway through

[RandomX]

I just finished watching 500 Days of Summer. I absolutely loved this movie. It is a non-love story with great acting, a fantastic soundtrack, phenomenal chemistry and cinematography. It's a definite buy for me.

[PregNut]

I've seen 4 movies in the theater so far this year (my highest total since 1989,) Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, District 9, and Zombieland.

I'm thinking about adding to that total this coming weekend with a butt-numbing, mind-numbing double-feature, 2012 and Avatar 3D.

[SwitcherX]

I watched Ichi The Killer again. And once again the English dosen't have the words needed to describe just how awesome it is.

[solvegas]

Just saw Avatar. The special effects are truly amazing, the look of the movie is awe inspiring. The story is stupid and I've seen this movie before. It was called Dances with Wolves but not as good. It is nothing more than the same crap we've been seeing for the last 40 years of the evil white man / westerner and the noble aborigines/ natives. It was three hours long and it certaintelly dragged at many times. Give James Cameron $ 500 million and he'll figure a way to throw it away. My $0.02.

[100ProofBE]

I've seen 4 movies in the theater so far this year (my highest total since 1989,) Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, District 9, and Zombieland.

I'm thinking about adding to that total this coming weekend with a butt-numbing, mind-numbing double-feature, 2012 and Avatar 3D.

Wow... I don't know that anyone's eyes can take that much "TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION". Add Transformers 2 to that and you might die from 'Splosion Overdose.

I too watched Inglorious Basterds this evening and I must say, I was entertained. It still suffers from Tarantino's frustrating signatures: excessively long dialogue scenes, constant winking at the audience, and his unabashed foot fetish. That and it's about a half hour too long. That said, the final 10 minutes are incredibly satisfying and I'll give the man credit: he certainly knows how to cast great character actors for the smaller roles. Not a big fan of the soundtrack, though. Morricone seems out of place in this. Still... even with all of my nitpicking, a definite thumbs up. Particularly for those of you who don't like Nazis.

[RandomX]

Humph. All these movies you're watching without me Proof. We have so much catching up to do. Aww, it'll be like when we first met. <3

Tomorrow I'm going to watch Julie and Julia. I've taken to downloading things that caught my interest for even half a second and watching them lately to relieve my boredom. I'm not proud of this, since it led to me watching crap like The Ugly Truth and Observe and Report.



Mmm, commercial for District 9...*homer drool*

[MaxBigfoot]

I'm working my way thru 35 Japanese (mostly Godzilla) monster movies I got from a torrent, plus 2 MST3K episodes made from a couple of them.  Super cheezy monstrous fun.   

[Freddy]

I recently watched Live Free or Die Hard.  I am a fan of all the flicks in the series, even though the first remains the best, of course.  However, I was pleasantly surprised how good the fourth one was, especially after a 12 year layoff from the last installment.