Last movie you watched......

Dexter has fallen into the same part of my contrarian entertainment hinterlands that 24 and The X-Files did.

In the cases of of the former two, it was the salt-water-taffy stretching of credulity that even crashes through my "give 'em a little license" expanded barrier of believability I apply to Hollywood.

X-Files.... wooden acting and not nearly as grabbing to me as old Kolchak had been with McGavin.

 

I've Netflixed Dexter. Only seasons 1 and 2, which I love.
Dexter is a terrible serial killer, but the story line is really good and I love the ensemble surrounding him. I really liked Doaks.

 

If you like Dexter, read the books. They're great.

 

Ummmm.......... Deadwood doesn't end. They never finished it, right?

 

I just watched The Wrestler, (spoiler, spoiler, spoiler) and I know it is a tragedy, but I would have liked to have seen his character go in a different direction.

Does anyone else agree with me on that one?

 

coming out tomorrow on dvd ...

he's just not that into you: don't do it. please. just don't. horribly boring and the two hours feels like four.

defiance: I liked it. I'd never heard the historical background on this one, so that to me was fascinating. I'm kind of a sucker for the historical dramas. they drop you right into the story so there's no initial character development. that was a little frustrating at first. but you do get to know the guys as it goes on and it really is a pretty interesting story.

revolutionary road: dicaprio is outstanding. winslet is also very good. I think the chemistry with the two of them, being such good friends, helps a lot and I'm sure with kate's husband directing it that probably helped a lot, too. some people will hate this one and be bored. but I think it was an outstanding adaptation of a book written almost 60 years ago that still holds up really well today -- and the mid-1950s period-piece aspect of this thing was unbelievable. they even had commuters reading reprints of actual newspapers of the time from those communities.

 

Revolutionary Road is brutal. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good movie. Winslett was fantastic (better than in The Reader IMHPO), but it's so depressing. The movie got to the place where it made sense that April's decision to committ suicide by botched abortion made sense (just like it does in the book).

I'll probably never watch it again, but I'm glad I saw it, much like Monster.

 

Do you enjoy depressing movies? I'm not being a wiseass, but sometimes (maybe I am just getting old) I do not like to be depressed if I see that a nice ending would work as well.

 

There was no way for the movie to end in a nice way. 1) There's a very good book (named to top 100 novels of the century by Time) and 2) without a suspension of belief, there's no way the two of them could have continued to remain married, and given the time period (the early to mid-50s) and her disposition, divorce wasn't an option.

I like good movies. If they happen to be depressing, that's the way it is. Same thing if they happen to be funny.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I would have to be in a certain mood to watch something like that. Everyday for me is not a day to try and watch Schindler's List.

 

I completely agree - both about Revolutionary Road and about movies.

I saw three movies this weekend:

The Brothers Bloom - I liked it, but then again, I just like looking at Adrien Brody. The first half reminded me of a Wes Anderson movie (for me, that's a good thing). It was a strange movie, but I just went with it and ended up liking it a lot. The woman behind me disagreed. Every 5-10 minutes she'd say to the person with her, "this movie is weird." To his/her credit, the other person never responded.

There Will Be Blood - I saw this in theater, but wanted to watch it again, because I was surprised I didn't hate it the first time. I have a deep-seated, irrational hatred of Daniel Day-Lewis and I wanted to torture myself by spending 2.5 hours looking at his stupid face. I found the movie boring the second time around and came away feeling no different about DDL. I still want to whap him upside the head with a crowbar.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Dark and depressing, but I really liked this. Philip Seymour Hoffman is incredible in any role. I know I'm in the extreme minority on this, but the opening scene, with Marisa Tomei and PSH having sex was completely gratuitous. I could have done without it. I suspect it would have done even worse at the box office without it, though. Like I said, I know I'm in the minority.

 

dead on. the movie is depressing as hell, and more depressing that it's a peek into Lord knows how many actual marriages out there. what holds true in the '50s holds true today. yes, it's depressing. but it's fantastic story telling. the period details were phenomenal and both of them did a hell of a lot with roles that demanded that of them.

it's a tragic love story. it's two people that so love each other and want to make it work, but just can't. and both of them get the blame - neither is clean. but you still want them to pull out of it and make it work. and if dicaprio's character could have just been brave enough to take that one chance, they might have made it. to me, that's a bit theme of the movie. there are going to be life-changing and life-defining moments presented. there won't be many, and they will often take us out of our comfort zone. but if we're brave enough to take that chance, we might actually find ourselves and happiness in the process.