What was the last movie you watched?

[Tripe]

And Malekith was a bore... what happened to that laughing madman Simonsen create?

He's being played by Eccleston, now I love Eccleston and not seen the film yet but your comment suggests he's playing the character the way I assumed he would play it. Really looking forward to seeing it.

For shame!  You need to be a better husband and take Ann to see Loki.

I tried; I took some time off on the day it came out so I could take her and was even willing to take the picture of her twerking the Loki stand-up like she was threatening to do (*shudder*) and then she calls from work to say she can't leave due to some stupid client needing a break down of HMO costs or FSA charges or something along those lines.

So, went this morning and here's the after reaction shot from Ann:

The Portman Inertia Field was too much for her and even made Loki less than super hot in her eyes and loins.

Didn't prevent her from making some comments throughout however:

"I'm Malekith, run for yer lives!"

"This movie would be better if Neil deGrasse Tyson was Thor's love interest! He'd look so much better in the Asgardian garb"

"So now what's Thor going to do, become a car mechanic in Chicago"

"This movie isn't based on real events?!"

"Asgarde eh? 'cause I was thinking Des Moines"

Now me, I liked the move a fair degree, I think Malkith maybe could have used more scenes to flesh out motivations somewhat (and apparently those exist) and would it have hurt them to have given D'Arcy a scene where she's snarky whilst taking a bath or shower or something, I know Kat could have pulled that off, but I liked it and assume they're doing Ragnarok next, could be wrong but seems that's the way it'll go.

Portman does suck though, Roy had a lucky escape...

[Darth Geek]

"So now what's Thor going to do, become a car mechanic in Chicago"

I want to see Thor actually try to build something with that hammer. Or just using it to hammer in nails in a fence or something.

[Johnny Unusual]

The Asphalt Jungle

Classic noir from John Huston.  Various crooks get together for a perfect crime, but it is obvious that things are about to fall about from the get go.  The plan itself succeeds but soon dominoes begin to fall and a mix of chance and human error ruin the plan.  It starts out a bit dull, but the last act is really strong.  If you are expecting action, you might be disappointed, but the character work is really strong, especially Sam Jaffe as a small time German crook with a good plan.  He brings a lot of humanity and gentleness to the character who is essentially the main crook.  The movie follows the rules set in Hollywood by the Hayes code to show crime doesn't pay, but I think this film wouldn't have changed either way, except we would be spending less time with the police.  The criminals are surprisingly sympathetic and I like that the attitude that these guys aren't obviously evil so much as they have their own morality (in fact, I think some of the stuff added to appease the Hayes code rings so false that it was intentional, like the police chief painting the film's lead as a "heartless hooligan."  It's not dark in the way you expect a noir to be, but more sad and melancholy in a refreshing way.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/MwZ82gM0S3k" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/MwZ82gM0S3k</a>

[Darth Geek]

  I watched Dear Mr. Watterson the other day. It was a nice documentary on Bill Waterson and his influence in the Comic strip industry with Calvin & Hobbes. It's really not groundbreaking or anything, especially since he couldn't actually talk to Watterson himself. Which was kind of the point. The only real criticism I can give is that it was much more interesting when the people they were interviewing were in the comic strip industry, rather than just normal people. When they were talking to just regular people and didn't have any name or job title on the bottom of the screen, I was wondering if I was supposed to know who they were.
  It was kind of funny when they got to talking about Watterson's aversion to marketing and commercialization of his art. The hesitation and clear internal spin a lot of the comic strip artists were trying to do as the camera rolled. They want to say glowing things about this guy they clearly admired, but would in no way resist marketing their own product like he did. I think the closest would be Bill Amend, who has resisted a lot of that kind of thing. No animated TV or movies or toys, for example. But will still do Comic Con signings and a little bit of marketing (I think Jason was a part of some science software advertisement once).

[anais.butterfly]

"So now what's Thor going to do, become a car mechanic in Chicago"

I want to see Thor actually try to build something with that hammer. Or just using it to hammer in nails in a fence or something.

Wait....I thought it was a reference to Adventures In Babysitting...


My favorite was the comment about Neil Degrasse Tyson (who is, in fact, way hotter than Portman).

[iv3rdawG]

Don't want to clutter the entire thread with my reviews so I'll just post snidbits and link to the entire reviews if you guys want to read them.

Frozen

There’s just something about a Disney movie like Frozen that completely warms your heart and makes you feel good every time you think about it. When you watch so many movies you can get jaded and it’s oftentimes even difficult to imagine that a film can have the power to do that. However, there’s something about Disney that if you grew up with them, it has this rare ability to bring back the nostalgia without losing the quality. With Frozen, the team behind it continue the studios strong run of animated films. It’s a movie anchored by a handful of strong performances and musical numbers, but Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell’s characters of Elsa and Anna are the true standouts.

Her

Her is a movie that a lot of people probably won’t see based on its trailer alone. It’s a movie that seems so out there that it’s bound to put some people off, which is truly a shame when you find out that it’s one of the strongest and smartest stories in recent memory that deals heavily with the theme of relationships. It features a handful of incredibly strong performances anchored by Phoenix and Johansson, with strong supporting turns by Adams and Olivia Wilde. What makes Her so impressive is the way that Jonze could have so easily portrayed the film in a number of different, inferior ways, but in the end never decided to. Almost every aspect of the film is done in a way that you’d hope for a movie of that genre to be presented, and it’s amazing that he pulled it off.

The Past

The Past is never as relatable as A Separation is, but it never needs to be. Farhadi’s already made that type of movie, and while this film deals in similar themes, it’s a whole other beast. While his work here isn’t as equally polarizing as his previous film, it’s still a tremendous movie in its own right. The script, direction, and acting are all top notch. With his scarce use of music (only for the end credits), Farhadi still has the ability to suck in the audience with only the power of storytelling. It’s movies like these that make you appreciate the art form.

The Green Inferno

Throughout The Green Inferno, it’s clear that Roth’s passion is there, as it shines through from the first frame to the last. His talent is undeniable and it’s clear that he loves this genre, and while The Green Inferno will most certainly appease many horror fans, it never fires on all cylinders. Though there’s nothing supernatural about it, it never feels as terrifying as something like Ti West’s The Sacrament (review coming soon), which presents a familiar situation but goes about exploring it in very different ways. It’s an interesting effort from Roth but it doesn’t feel like anything new from him, and honestly that’s the real downfall of The Green Inferno.

[mrbasehart]

Snidbits?

(I thought Her looked fantastic, though it isn't out here yet)

[iv3rdawG]

Question: Is the quote feature not working for anyone else?

Maybe bigger than a snidbit . As for Her, it hasn't been released in the U.S. yet either but it's definitely worth checking out.

[Edward J Grug III]

Question: Is the quote feature not working for anyone else?

You can either open the quote in another tab/window, or go into your settings and turn off quick quote (which is a better, permanent fix)

[iv3rdawG]

Question: Is the quote feature not working for anyone else?

You can either open the quote in another tab/window, or go into your settings and turn off quick quote (which is a better, permanent fix)

Thanks.

[anais.butterfly]

I watched Thor 2: the Squeakquel. LOVED IT.

[Johnny Unusual]

Thor had some small problems, but was overall really great.  I really loved the last fight and the humour is much better this time around.  Joss Whedon probably had a lot to do with it, but Chris Yost also has a sense of fun that works well with the Marvel movies.  I'm not the biggest Yost fan, but he can be a solid writer here, and I think he did a fine job.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Rewatched this last night.  Walter Matthau is fantastic in this and I like that the villain is a stereotypical British villain going up against a seemingly unassuming, exhausted blue collar slob.  It's an incredibly fun and often funny suspense movie that you owe it to yourself to see, if you haven't yet.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ep518FVHKIU" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/ep518FVHKIU</a>

[d00hickey]

I saw the Phelem 123 remake and it was awful. I definitely want to see the original, on my watch list it goes.

[Edward J Grug III]

I saw the Phelem 123 remake and it was awful. I definitely want to see the original, on my watch list it goes.

I've seen both, and I agree with you both. The first is excellent, the remake is awful.

[Tripe]

Blue is the Warmest Colour interesting, a pretty decent movie about relationships and the subtle problems class dichotomy can cause between lovers as well as a look at the fluidity of female sexuality and gender identity. Oh and about 12 minutes of fairly porntastic sex scenes (without which the movie would likely be PG-13 rather than NC-17).

The movie has a lot of great emotional realism and the actors aren't afraid to look ugly (crying, the way nobody really looks cute when they're sleeping) and Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux are both wonderful to look at so it's not that I mind the sex scenes in the slightest, I do wonder if they aren't a little exploitative and don't add all that much to the story but it's not a point I'm all that inclined to make much of, the scenes are beautiful to watch, pure fucking art if you will.