Last movie you watched......

Just watched Captain Phillips. Man. That movie was intense.
Unlike a lot of others, I really loved the build-up of the first 85 percent of the movie. But, yeah, I'll echo what everyone else said here about the final scenes. God lord. That was crazy.
Great movie. I loved it. It's the only Best Picture nominee I've seen thus far but I imagine it'll rank at or around the top when I get through them all.

2014 Best Picture Nominees:
Captain Phillips 8/10

 

Watched "Wings of Desire" for the first time since seeing it in a theater when it came out in the U.S. - 1988, I think.

It's a "fallen angel" story, but I had forgotten that it's only maybe the last 30-40 minutes or so that Bruno Ganz's angel is in human form.

Remade in a very inferior fashion as "City of Angels." And (SPOILERS) that one inverts the usual formula - the U.S. version has a "unhappy" ending, when typically American audiences want happy endings.

 

It's interesting that you highlight the language, because that's the only point where I thought "12 Years a Slave" fell short. There were too many moments when I felt like the actors were having problems wrapping their tongues around the period phrasing -- or maybe it was just how that sort of dialogue fell on my modern ear.

 

For the first time, I watched "Finding Forrester" from start to finish. Got me to thinking how many movies involve writing or reporting in plots but don't delve at all into the pains and labors of the work.

The HBO Hemingway-Gelhorn flick touched on writing, IIRC, but "Forrester" seemed to get into the meat of it. "All The President's Men" and "The Paper" addressed dilemmas in journalism.

Any suggestions on other movies of this ilk? Appreciate it.

 

"You're the man now, dog!"

 

In their own way, Adaptation and Synecdoche, NY are about the creative process.

 

Adaptation and the HBO Hemingway-Gelhorn movie were both awful.

 

'Adaptation' is a wonderful representation. 'Synecdoche' is an interesting and ambitious attempt, but I think less successful.

Also, from different film-makers, 'Barton Fink.'

 

Adaptation is a movie I can (and have) watched over and over. I blame my college screenwriting class.

 

Philomena. Loved this movie. Dench was superb in an amazingly understated way, and Coogan not getting a best supporting actor nominee when Jonah Hill did is insane.

Now the only Best Picture nominee that I haven't seen is American Hustle. Hoping to see it in the next couple of days. If I can squeeze in it, August: Osage County and Blue Jasmine, I'll have seen all the movies up for major awards.

 

I saw a screening of Son of God last night and was severely disappointed.
I had high hopes for Son of God and wanted to like it. The Passion of the Christ set the bar so high and Son of God fell far short of that bar. I cried during Passion of the Christ; I just wanted Son of God to be over.
Son of God was a Reader's Digest retelling of the Gospel and a jumbled mess with all the quality of a made-for-TV movie. The Passion of The Christ is a far superior film. Son of God was nothing more than a Jesus best-of hitlist without any context or attempt at character development.
Son of God is definitely one film where you can unequivocally say that the book was better.

 

Caine Mutiny. Awesome movie. Had to have inspired Sorkin in some way to write the script for A Few Good Men.