Last movie you watched......

I thought it was actually pretty bad. Emote. Emote. Emote. Every single fucking scene goes for the throat, with emotional music cues and everything. It's bad enough with just the stepmother-stepson angle. But how do we make it even more heart-wrenching? I know! A dead baby!

After about five minutes, it loses all power. Phoebe's character is an utter cliche. The movie spells out everything to a grating degree for those who don't catch the worn-out tropes it trots out. "I am just like your father, don't you see that! I cheated on my wife and married you."

After watching this, I am absolutely shocked that the same woman playing the lead here won Best Actress that year. Shocked. I think about two minutes in, when the little boy mentions selling the dead baby's stuff on eBay, Natalie Portman yells, "Shut up! Just shut up!" and walks away crying. I laughed it was so telegraphed and poorly executed.

What manipulative dreck. Go rent "The Rabbit Hole" if you want to actually watch a movie that mines the same source material with nuance and power.

 

The only thing I was hoping for was a bit more action. Say when they are being trailed and at the camp site..Let her show her skills in front of everyone. But, still, I enjoyed it.

 

Watched this last night based on this review. I really enjoyed it, and you're right about the different reactions.

Then followed that with "Megan is Missing," which was suggested by Netflix after I viewed "Trust." Much worse movie. Just not good at all.

 

The Wild Wonderful Whites of West Virginia.

Makes my home state look like a real winner.

 

The Fast and Furious franchise has ruined our cinematic experiences.

I didn't care about the driving scenes. They were cool, yes, but that's not what the movie was about.

 

I saw "Ides of March" last night. Right there with "Drive" for best film I've seen in theaters this year. Just in-cre-di-ble acting and dialogue. Clooney was his typical great self, Seymour-Hoffman might get BSA nod, and Gosling was phenomenal.

 

'I Saw the Devil'
They make some f*cked up movies in Korea.

 

Watched Horrible Bosses last night. It was a funny movie to watch. It's not a classic like Blazing Saddles or something, but I liked all the actors in it and the premise was something I can empathize with -- and I'm sure many others would agree. Jennifer Aniston was sexxxxxy in the movie. Damn.

 

The move was called "Drive." Sorry, but a movie about a wheelman should have some kick-ass, you know, driving.

They don't show Bruce Wayne for 110 minutes of a 120-minute Batman movie. They didn't keep Seabiscuit in the stable for all but two minutes. They didn't show Rocky training for the whole movie and then not show the fight.

You're right that the car chases are not what the movie is about. The movie was essentially a character study of the driver. Being a wheelman was a part of Ryan Gosling's character and the opening scene tells us that he's very, very good at it. No harm in wanting to see more of the skill that is so closely associated with his character.

I enjoyed everything they showed in the film, but I thought they missed on the payoff. A hand-to-hand stabbing worked as the payoff in "Gladiator," but not as well in "Drive." I felt they could have used another car chase or at least made the one car big car chase a little longer, especially since I think it's one of the best car chases I've seen in a movie in a long time.

The Fast and the Furious has nothing to do with my criticism.

 

Ghostbusters on the big screen. Still an incredibly funny movie. It's held up quite well after nearly 30 years. I've seen it a ton of times, but it's one of those where you notice something new, some little subtle line or look or background detail, especially on a large screen. I never noticed how beautiful the NYC skyline was until tonight. It's the scene where Ray and Winston are crossing the Brooklyn Bridge (?) in the early morning hours, obviously caught with a helicopter camera. No CGI background, no matte painting, just a sweeping shot of the skyline with the sun rising behind it. Really breathtaking.

 

Saw Dream House. Bewilderingly bad mishmash ripping off The Shining and bad haunted house movies. Solid cast, including Daniel Craig, but appalingly bad dialogue and somnambulant pacing

 

Anyone going to see Paranormal Activity 3 this weekend? I've heard it's terrifying and does a good job of changing from the same scare tactics of the first two flicks. I think they've carved out a nice niche with these movies. It's not horror and it's not the cliche scares.