Last movie you watched......

"The Happening."

Not sure why it was so widely panned. I thought Shyamalan set out to make a campy B-movie and largely nailed it.

I think that they probably overexplained things a bit - I always hate superfluous exposition, which is one of the major reasons I absolutely hated "Inception" - but with a really trustworthy right-hand man, I think this would and could have been outstanding. Shyamalan needs a trusted advisor to reign him in, because his ideas are cool. He's like a writer who needs a good editor.

 

"Barney's Version" - much, much better than I expected. Really good, actually. Another excellent performance by Paul Giamatti. He won the Golden Globe for the role and wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

 

That performance by Mark Wahlberg, who's stiff as a 2x4, has a lot to do with it.

 

"Islands In The Stream." I'll watch just about anything with George C. Scott in it.

 

Got some catching up to do on this thread.

Limitless: Rented it a couple of nights ago. I give it about a two stars out of five. Had heard good things from reliable people on it, but it didn't do a whole lot for me. Even fell asleep towards the end.

Also saw Harry Potter Kicks Ass a couple week ago. Far better than Harry Goes Camping. Almost makes up for it. Saw the 2D version. But I was very much impressed. I give it 4 1/2 out of five. And no I did not read the books. I shouldn't have to read a book in order to enjoy a movie.
SPOILER ALERT: the only thing that bothered me at the end was that Valdimort's crew was unable to figure out that Harry wasn't dead at the end. Didn't check for a pulse, just looked at him and ignored the slightly moving head. That was my only issue. Other than that, it kicked ass.

Transformers, Dark Side of the Moon: I enjoyed it. Saw it twice in 3D. Saw it first by myself on opening night because it happened to have an early showing here and I had nothing else to do, and then saw it with a buddy and his wife who really wanted to see it and again I had nothing better to do. Another movie that made up for it's previous chapter. No, watching it was not going to challenge your thinking or change the way you look at the world, but it was a fun movie that blew a lot of shit up, and the plot was actually followable this time. Just a fun summer blockbuster movie. I give it a solid three out of five.

Pirates of the Caribbean: You know what I am tired of this series. I saw it in the cheap theatre on cheap night on Tuesday so it didn't cost me much, but I find these movies just draaaaag on and on. Johnny Depp was good, and the special effects were solid as always, but it didn't hold me for whatever reason. two out of five.

And finally Super 8: Again, another solid movie. But this wasn't quite what I thought it was going to be. I don't think it quite met the hype, but I enjoyed it none the less. Did not expect it to be centred around the kids like it was, but the kids were excellent as far as children actors go. Kyle Chandler was excellent in it as well. I give it 3 1/2 stars.

Also caught the last half of Willow on I think Saturday. Always loved that movie. The special effects though which kicked ass at the time (I think they actually won an academy award for special effects) don't hold up quite so well today. By comparison I can watch an old version of Star Wars and the special effects don't stand out as being substandard, obviously better when they are enhanced, but not terrible in their original form.

 

Friend and I caught a sneak peek at "The Changeup".

While it's very formulaic and you can pretty much guess the entire plot of the movie just by reading a summary of the trailer, it was absolutely hysterical and the funniest movie I've seen all summer. (Full disclosure: I have yet to see Horrible Bosses or Bridesmaid).

Jason Bateman was fantastic in this flick, as was Ryan Reynolds and I definitely plan on checking this out again when it comes out on DVD.

 

When I went to see that my friend I was there with leaned over to me about 45 minutes in and said, "she's married."

I saw it coming also.

 

Godfather III is the best of the series. (Full disclosure: I have yet to see Godfather or Godfather II)

 

I see what you did there. Nice.

 

I'm just saying that it was the funniest movie I've seen all summer. Based on the reviews, I'd say those two are probably better but the Changeup was hilarious. I highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for a good date-night movie and your significant other appreciates raunchy humor.

 

Actually, the woman checking if he was dead was momma Malfoy (dunno their names). She saw Harry was alive and asked if her son was dead. Harry shook his head, and she covered for him. Hagrid, who was on Potter's side, carried him back and covered for him, too. That's how I saw it anyway.

 

Mrs. Novelist and I caught a matinee of Captain America. Her review: "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Mine: It was enjoyable, but not near the best of the genre. IMO, Iron Man set the bar pretty high for comic-book hero movies.

Oh, and Haley Atwell ... Yowza.