Last movie you watched?

[Nyo]

Surf's Up on my iPod

(I think it's better than Happy Feet - I suggest it if you're bored and want a good laugh )

[HerrimanWasHere]

Oh snap! I ended up watching The Great Mouse Detective again today. I fear that I might be becoming addicted to it. It's just...I reeeeeeeeaally enjoy the characters. (I'll admit it, not the world's greatest plot but still enjoyable.) Is it evil that I enjoy Basil's mood swings? He goes from depressed, to excited, to contemplative so easily! (Actually, my main rat Ratigan does that too...)

Also took out my Nightmare Before Christmas movie too. (I watch this film at least once a week. Why?....It's my favorite movie of all time.)

[some guy you dont know]

batman beyond: return of the joker

that was some epic stuff right there. Did not see the ending coming at all.

[jekylljuice]

Bebe's Kids

Yet another obscure animated film from the early 90s. This one was derived from a stand-up comedy routine by Robin Harris (who sadly died prior to the film's production - previously, this had been slated to be a live action picture), and was probably most notable for being the first animated flick to feature an all-black main cast. For those unfamiliar with the film or the original routine, it deals with Robin's attempts to impress his newly-acquired girlfriend by treating her and her young son to a day out at a theme park (in the routine, Disneyland, in the film, the all-round generic Fun Land, owing to obvious copyright restrictions) - the catch being that she also insists upon bringing the ghastly offspring of her mysterious friend Bebe, and general chaos ensues.

I can't speak for the original routine, which I imagine is pretty funny, but a definite problem with the film is that Bebe's kids, who should by all rights be the juiciest part of the story, are actually the most off-putting. They’re not particularly pleasant characters, and nor are they intended to be, though sadly they’re not all that interesting here either. I actually greatly preferred the segments of the film which centre more around Robin himself – indeed, the film starts out fairly promisingly with him as the primary focus, but pretty much the instant that Bebe’s kids show up on the scene and take the helm the story starts to trail off into a rather aimless plethora of anarchy, silliness and obnoxiousness (in which only the rather banal subplot involving Robin’s ex-wife adds any kind of ground or structure). It’s only in the final stages of the film, when we’ve retreated from the disarray of Fun Land and back into the more human drama of the outside world that things start to pick up again.

Basically, it’s an interesting concept which never really comes close to being half as fun as it could’ve been, though it is bookended nicely enough.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Taken

This my second time watching it and just like the first time, I still find the movie to be a truly unique and surprisingly powerful film vehicle for Liam Neeson. It feels like a Jason Bourne thing, with enough martial arts ass kickery and taking a seemingly non action hero suited actor (Neeson) to feel like they are doing the same thing here but its not. Its actually a much more emotional movie then I thought and manages to mix enough bad ass spy action and great performances.

Neeson plays a father who used to be a bad ass spy for the government, and gets back into the game when his daughter is kidnapped. The movie really makes you feel strongly for Neeson's father figure and you can truly feel the sorrow and severity in his words from his dark and dramatic performance. On top of that, nothing in here is over the top, too action packed or too crazy.

Its all played out on a very serious and very realistic setting and doesn't stretch out into any super global terrorist organizations either. I especially felt the dialog was excellently crafted to go along with the action scenes and there's a particular scene involving a chair, two nails, and a light switch that is worth seeing on its own merit. All in all, this is an excellent and surprisingly effective dramatic movie that has everything going in its favor.

[jekylljuice]

Frost/Nixon

In a word, brilliant. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen were both amazing as the two leads...there's nothing that I could say here which could possibly do justice to Langella's performance in particular.

[Ccook50]

Taken. Interesting premise, but the clunky dialogue (particularly the line Neeson delivers to his daughter's kidnappers on the cell phone) and set pieces (where did he get the IV unit for that drugged-up girl? And the pompous pop starlet made me want to retch) made me feel like this was an attempt to mimic Die Hard. Not a god-awful movie but curiously unimportant.

[jekylljuice]

Tales from Earthsea

The directorial debut of Goro Miyazaki, this garnered a somewhat more mixed reaction than the Ghibli crowd are generally used to, but being such a huge fan of their output, and a completist, I’ve still been very eager to see it. And having done so, I can’t say that I was too disappointed. It certainly doesn’t rank up there with the best of Ghibli’s work – just don’t expect anything in the league of Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle – but it’s still a perfectly respectable addition to the studio’s canon. Embedded in a lot of the more negative whisper about the film was the rather damning judgement that Goro does not appear to have inherited his father’s talent, but I personally feel that, with a bit more polishing, he might prove a worthy successor yet.

Visually, Tales from Earthsea contains a great deal to admire. Some commentators felt that the design and animation wasn’t up to quite the same par as a lot of Ghibli’s previous efforts, but I can’t recall any moments when I actually detected this – indeed, the sheer amount of detail which went into every frame at points made me want to salivate. The story and characters, meanwhile, have come under fire for failing to deliver the same degree of magic, charm and imagination we’d come to expect from Hayao’s output – this criticism I would agree with, but what it did deliver still managed to hold my interest for the complete two hour running time. It might help, of course, that I’ve never actually read any of the original novels by Ursula K Le Guin, of which I hear this is a rather meagre adaptation (and indeed, one feels that it barely scratches the surface of the fantastical world in which it is based), but, judged upon its own merits, it's a wholly competent, if not exactly remarkable mystical adventure story, and, for Ghibli fans, it's more than worth the watch.

As for Miyazaki Jr, all I can say is, give the man time.

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Hercules

Push

I have heard so many people knock Push off right off the bat by being some sort of Heroes rip off or something like that. Needless to say that is far from the truth but its also far from popular belief that this is some kind of mindless action flick. Yes, its very fast paced but there is also an extremely COMPLICATED and constantly moving storyline that never lets or gives up.

Push has a lot going on at once and for those of you looking to go see it, I highly recommend looking at the movie's official website and checking out their handy "super power classification" list because it's going to be a bit tricky trying to catch all of those titles and listings instantly. I admit, I'm usually very good at keeping up with fast paced films but even this was a little bit much.

Having said that, I give this movie lots of credit for having an extremely smart and crafty edge with their super powers. They use lots of clever tricks and ways to use it and the screaming Japanese guys (Bleeders they're called) are by far the most interesting and amusing to watch. Also another treat with this movie was fantastic performances by villain Dijmon Hisou and Dakota Fanning.

Fanning was just excellent in her dark, punker, grim psychic watcher role. She's really expanded as an actor and if this film is any indication of what she can really do then I hope to see MUCH more of her work. The psychic battles were totally bad ass, watching guys mentally bounce bullets and people back and forth like pin balls is just awesome to watch.

Push is a movie you cannot see half tired or half at all, this movie needs your undivided attention if you want to fully understand it. Its not a movie where you can walk in and mindlessly drift in and out of focus, if you wanna know what's going on then pay attention. Other then that, this was quite a damn good movie with excellent performances and sweet super psychic battles. I don't know if I'd buy it but its definitely worth a second looking at.

[taranchula]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

One of the few movies I can watch again and again and again (Repeat 20000 more times or until dragged away which ever comes first.) and never ever be bored with.