Last movie you watched......

Saw "The Killing Fields" for the first time. I've visited Tuol Sleng while I was in Phnom Pehn a couple of years ago and had wanted to see it since.

I still don't understand what all went down there, but genocide is just unimaginable. Touring Tuol Sleng was one of the most gut-wrenching things I've ever witnessed.

The movie is phenomenal; I'd heard the term "killing fields" prior but had no idea what it referred to until my trip to Cambodia and had no clue what the plot of the movie was. It is based on the experiences of a NYT reporter and his assistant, who's a host country national.

The assistant winds up being captured; in the end, it's more his story.

The actor, Dr. Haing S Ngor, won an Oscar for his performance and was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge himself. Reading that beforehand made it even more creepy. On the Wiki page, there's a quote from him from People Magazine: "I wanted to show the world how deep starvation is in Cambodia, how many people die under Communist regime. My heart is satisfied. I have done something perfect."

A young Craig T. Nelson and John Malkovich also appear. Sam Waterson portrays Sidney Schanberg, the NYT reporter.

 

I've long considered "The Killing Fields" to be a must-see movie. Not that you'd necessarily like it, but it is excellent and should be seen. It's one of the few I've seen that has stuck with me so long.

 

Hangover 3 - 90 percent vile putrid shit. The only vibe given off that resembled the first one was when they were driving into Vegas with Danzig's "Mother" in the background about an hour into it. The pawn shop scene with Melissa McCarthy was on the first one's weird level.

Magic Mike - Reminded me a lot of Boogie Nights. Delightfully dark in places. Might be a lot of eye candy for the ladies, but you can't go wrong with Olivia Munn and Cody Horn.

 

While "Reign Over Me" was enjoyed for the first time this afternoon, I also took in "Trouble With the Curve" when it debuted on HBO last night. Enjoyed it but was also put off a bit about how simplistic and unrealistic it really was.

First off, none of the scouts ever talked to the supposed big prospect. The punk was a total prima donna prick, which would always be addressed more by scouts. And Matthew Lillard's punk character also was unrealistic. A scout who never goes to a game? Seriously?

But it was still better than a lot of schlock out there. Amy Adams is always a delight.

 

Rewatched "Children of Men" last night.

I marvel at the two setpieces - the long tracking shot at the beginning, and the ambush scene around the halfway point. And the Pink Floyd pig balloon.

 

I thought it was absolutely brutal. One of the worst movies I've seen of the last few years. I couldn't get past the flaws you mention - the Lillard character and Eastwood were both complete cartoon characters.

Lillard: "I don't need to watch games. I've got all I need right here." (Points to his laptop.)

Only in Bill Plaschke's deepest, darkest wet dream does any front office person actually talk like that.

 

Didn't care for Hangover 3 either, but it's still so much better than the second one that it's not even funny...

 

All of those things bugged me, but the killer was how the movie made a big deal out of the club surreptitiously sending another scout to check behind Eastwood's back. Hello? It's called cross-checking, and every MLB does it as a matter of SOP. I doubt any of them get all twisted up about it.

Saw Star Trek and Now You See Me over the weekend. Really loved the homages in Star Trek, which I thought was very strong all around.

Now You See Me was Kind of Ocean's Eleven meets The Prestige, but I found it very entertaining.

 

Watched a bunch of movies over the weekend.

Hangover 3 -- Wasn't great, but not horrible. Still, the worst of the three. For me, they go in order. 1 is the best, then 2, then 3.
Flight -- Very good. I think the heroin addict they got to play Denzel's girlfriend or whatever was too hot to be believable.
The Godfather -- First time I've seen it. I'm 34 years old. I expected to be underwhelmed considering the hype. Glad I was wrong. Liked it.
Knock, Knock -- We wanted a horror movie. Instead, we got a comedy. A bad comedy.

Definitely seeing The Purge this weekend sometime. Maybe The Godfather 2 as well.

 

She was Catalina in "My Name is Earl."

 

Saw "Now You See Me." It was a fun watch in terms of style and pace but I thought it missed badly in terms of coherent storyline and character development. I liked how they explained things for you so you didn't have to just "believe" in the magic but the plot twist was meh and the whole reason for the foursome to being doing what they were doing was really lame and not explained well. It wasn't as convoluted as it could have been given it was a movie based on misdirection and twists but I just didn't think it was as good as many of the reviews proclaim.

 

Not her. The other one. The heroine-addicted photographer.