Last movie you watched......

You're giving Loki too much credit. He told the Frost Giant leader (I forget his name) that that was just a bit of fun to ruin his brother's big day and it had the unintended consequences that followed.

Loki wasn't much of an evil genius.

 

Watching some fucked-up ass Japanese horror film about hell on TCM last night.

Jigoku. Made in 1960, it was kind of cool because it worked in a lot of what would be defined as psychedelia long before psychedelia was popular, but it was also supremely fucked up, as most Japanese horror movies are.

I recommend it if you want something totally bizarre.

 

That's the problem. You're actually believing something Loki said. Best to assume that if his lips are moving, he's lying.

I will say this -- I think trying to make him somewhat sympathetic actually weakened the character as a villain.

 

There's nothing good on.

 

"Pirates of the Caribbean 4" in 3D. Much better than I thought it would be. Very funny and pretty good writing, all in all. I never saw 2 and 3, only 1 so this seemed better.

 

What do you think about the alternate ending?

 

Saw Conviction tonight. I'm abivalent about the movie overall -- determined family member persists to help out relative that no one else believes in, which has been done many times over -- though it's a nice story. My god has Minnie Driver aged well. Much hotter now than in Good will Hunting.

Also saw Love and Other Drugs. One can never have too much naked Anne Hathaway. The story arc has been done plenty of times, though.

 

Watching The Hurt Locker for the third time.

I feel like it's an "Emperor's new Clothes" thing, like Slumdog Millionaire. Everyone raved about this one, and I merely find it to be a good, solid flick. Enjoyed the randomness of the plot. It's not like day-to-day life follows a clear narrative.

Renner is very good, performance-wise. His two partners, not so much. More than one predictable moment (yeah, I think we all saw what was gonna happen to psychiatrist guy the moment he got in the truck). Some great tense scenes, especially in the first 45 minutes or so. Liked the confusion regarding the kid. Thought all of the "He's HOME!! And he hates IT!" scenes were forced. Felt very much like a haphazardly put together ending.

Points deducted for the Saving Private Ryan-esque casting of Ralph Fiennes as the random desert encounter. Like Ted Danson and Paul Giammati (known more widely then as "Hey! It's Pig Vomit from Howard Stern's movie!") in SPR, seeing Fiennes in a random five-minute role made me say "hey! It's Ralph Fiennes!" His presence also made even more notable the poor performances by Renner's two sidekicks.

Was it really the best picture of 2009?

Of the ones I saw, Avatar's plot and characters w3ere recycled from James Cameron's previous films. The Blind Side was very entertaining, but more of an innocuous little flick than a BEST PICTURE. District 9 hit you over the head with its metaphor, and a very interesting film deteriorated into a shootout in the final minutes. Inglorious Basterds was good, but it wasn't THAT good. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire was a deliberate attempt to jerk every single heartstring, which I found pretty cynical, though the performances were good across the board. Up was very nice, but didn't merit being nominated other than a certain 10-minute sequence . . .

OK, so Hurt Locker was a deserving winner.

 

Just saw the movie the other night. It was better than 2 and 3. They weren't trying so hard to duplicate the dialogue from the first one and it came out fine. And honestly, except for a couple of minor things, you don't need to see 2 and 3 to get No. 4, which is nice.

 

UP was better, IMO. Or maybe none were all that deserving at all.

 

Saw "Bridesmaids" on Friday. Laughed heartily at many parts, had a snot/tears/I-couldn't-breathe-moment during the food poisoning scene. Very funny.

As I just mentioned to someone else, I am going to be extraordinarily disappointed if "Hangover 2" sucks. I have seen the original at least ten times, and it never gets old.

 

Seconded, only I've seen it probably 20 times. I'm so excited about this movie I can't even tell you.