What movies have you seen recently?

Post Reply New Topic

Once Upon a Time in America

Very long movie mostly shown in flashback showing the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise in New York City's organized crime during Prohibition.

I saw The Departed, the American adaptation of South Korean cop thriller Infernal Affairs. It features an ensemble cast with Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Alex Baldwin, and Mark Wahlberg. They all put out great performances in this. I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the film, but -without wanting to spoil it- I felt the ending came a bit too sudden in tying up the story's loose ends, and left me with a sense of lacking closure. But maybe that's what they were going for.

It's been ages since I saw Infernal Affairs when I was about 18. I remember that it made a great impression on my at the time, but I don't remember enough of it to see how The Departed holds up against it. I should re-watch it some time soon.

Pacific Rim

In the near future, a war between us and giant sea creatures rages on as a former pilot and trainee team up using an alleged obsolete special weapon to stop the destruction of the human race.

I couldn't sleep the other night, so I watched Eraserhead.

It's just as weird as it used to be.

Drive Angry.

Nicholas Cage plays John Milton, an escapee from Hell bent on rescuing his granddaughter from being sacrificed by a red neck cracker cult who think they can bring Hell to earth. But he's being pursued by The Accountant, whose job is to bring back escaped souls.
Terrible CGI, but otherwise a decent enough horror/action movie.

An Education

A 2009 British coming-of-age drama, adapted from the memoirs of Sunday Times journalist Lynn Barber. London, 1961 sees 16-year-old Jenny Mellor fall for charming Jewish businessman David Goldman who shows Jenny a world previously unknown to her: rock and roll, jazz, trips to the Continent, sex , smoking, etc. What follows is a struggle between Jenny's head and heart, especially as her A-levels are fast drawing to a close and her place at Oxford could be jeopardised (the equivalent of S.A.Ts and Harvard for those in the US).

A bit too on-the-rails for my liking but I like period pieces from yesteryear. And watching Peter Sasgaard, Dominic Cooper and Emma Thompson act is always a treat.

The Woman In Black

Psychological thriller from 2011 centered around a young lawyer {played by Daniel Radcliffe} coping with the death of his wife, who died during childbirth. The lawyer is assigned to go to a small village to make sure the affairs of a former client are handled properly. The lawyer later discovers that his former client apparently commited suicide and that the townspeople are hiding a secret.

Creepy, likeable movie that does not rely on gore.

Brigadoon

Two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland discover a small village that isn't on the map. The village has a secret and the people act the way they did from the 1700s.

All Is Lost

Seafaring movie starring Robert Redford as an unnamed sailor lost at sea struggling to survive.

Despite little dialogue and seemingly poor CG, Redford gives one of his best performances and is definitely a lock for a Best Actor nomination.

"Louvre City" by Nicolas Philibert - an unassuming documentary showing, without narration or editorial comment, what goes on behind the scenes to prepare galleries for the display of the artworks held at the Louvre. I really liked this film in that it just showed little details rather than tried to make a statement. It seemed a bit like my experiences working back stage in theatre productions. There is a lot of invisible work that goes into making a show work and this film got that across without emphasizing the idea.

Insanitarium

Guys sister gets put into a Sanitarium after their mother I believe dies, so he gets in to save her. Cue the psychological horror/thriller beginning. The only movie I've seen so far that has made me cringe, cry, and almost freak out, partially due to needles, and partially due to a certain drug in the movie and what that drug ends up doing.

Dark City (I believe.)

Movie is about people in a city that's changed every night, and one man who is trying to fight "The powers that be". Cue an amazing Science Fiction movie.

Disclaimer: This is my opinion.

Maniac.

Great remake of the original horror film of the same name. Told often from the point of view of an insane serial killer.

This Is The End.

Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Andy McBride, Michael Cera and others play themselves at a Hollywood party when the end of the world occurs, the good are raptured into heaven, while everyone at the party is left to suffer in the hellscape afterward. They prove to be pretty good sports, I think, as they play themselves as shallow, vacuous, self-centered dicks who pretty well deserve what they get in this Horror/comedy.
Spoiler - Andy McBride, having been kicked out of James Franco's house earlier on, ends up the head of a cannibal gang who eat James Franco alive.

Prisoners: Thriller about two kids getting kidnapped.

I would have expected more by the reportages about it (So I expected it more "Silence of the lambs (?) - Hannibal Lecter" like, but it was ok.So no masterpiece, but a well done thriller.

Monster High "13 Wishes" on nickelodeon