What was the last movie you watched?

[McDonald's]

Horrible Bosses.  I'm in love with psycho Jennifer Aniston.

[lassieface]

I watched "The Glimmer Man" which is really weird. It feels like it was written as a very serious crime thriller before they rewrote it a dozen times and cast Steven Seagal and Keenen Wayans in it. Interestingly, Wayans actually did a fairly good job. I laughed at a number of the jokes he had in it. The movie also features the always-southern Brian Cox.

[Variety of Cells]

Shallow Grave

Man, I love Danny Boyle.  It doesn't quite hold up exactly as well as I remember, but it is still very good with a cracking final act.  I don't know what Boyle is up to next, but I'd love to see him do another thriller.

Did you see Trance? I didn't, but I thought it was supposed to be a thriller.

Gave this a shot today.  Was actually pretty good.  Not my favorite of his, but was still engaging and entertaining and looked really nice.  Sunshine is still my favorite of his, but I'd say Trance is definitely worth a watch.

[Mrs. Dick Courier]

Cloud Atlas

Enjoyed it.  But I think I've seen too many movies that make me think in the last week.  My thinker is overworked.  Need to see a movie where absolutely no brain power is being used.

My first thought was a Kevin James movie, but no...not that mind numbing.

Maybe a cartoon?  I have the newest Madagascar.

[lassieface]

Cloud Atlas seemed to get a lot of undue hate. I thought it was excellent. Especially considering how complex the book is.

[Quantum Vagina]

There's a lot of movies that I really like, because I can just shut my brain off and enjoy the goofiness. I'm having trouble of thinking which ones they are right now, but rest assured, I know your meaning.

Also, Cloud Atlas was amazing.

[Pak-Man]

Pacific Rim is my favorite Brain-Off movie of the year.

[Quantum Vagina]

I actually couldn't shut my brain off during it. I thought it was incredibly interesting. Gone are the days of "America, fuck yeah" and in are the days of international cooperation. The fucking robots literally run on TEAMWORK. That's awesome.

[Darth Geek]

Yeah, aside from the very presence of giant robots and giant monsters,  I didn't need to "shut my brain off" for that movie at all.

[mrbasehart]

Dredd is really good and an almost perfect big screen adaptation of the character.   It's clearly lower budget, but manages enough spectacle within its limited scope to satisfy even those who thought that it was merely a rip-off of The Raid.  Karl Urban is a great Dredd, while it has good, tough supporting performances from Olivia Thirlby and Lean Headey.

Solomon Kane is a film I could watch a dozen times...and not remember a thing about it afterwards.  In fact, I was looking up some information about the cast while I was watching and discovered I had actually seen it before, retaining absolutely no memory of the incident.  It looks nice, James Purefoy's pretty cool, but there's nothing in the film to recommend it other than an easy, evidently forgettable, experience.

The new Conan the Barbarian retains the same forgettable quality of Solomon Kane, but it's certainly a more disappointing experience, and aside from some nice locations, left me feeling that a whole bunch of promise had been squandered.  On the page, it has most of the same qualities of its older, more successful predecessors, and Jason Momoa, so great in Game of Thrones, seems a perfect fit for Conan.  The problem is that everything seems so lightweight and frivolous, completely dispensing with the bleak nihilism of the Schwarzenegger films that it rather feels more like a big budget episode of Hercules than Conan proper. 

[Pak-Man]

Yeah, aside from the very presence of giant robots and giant monsters,  I didn't need to "shut my brain off" for that movie at all.

Oh, yeah. The depth is there is you want it, and there's plenty for the brain to chew on if it wants. You don't "need" to shut your brain off,  but it's a lot of fun to just sit back and watch the robots and monsters fight too.

[ElegantButler]

I'm currently watching Killer Klowns From Outer Space (and working on the script for an iRIFF). I love that it never takes itself too seriously, and its filled with clever gags and puns.

[Raven]

The Bridge (2006)- Very unsettling but a well produced documentary about the abundence of suicides committed by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.  Contains actual footage of the jumpers as well as testimonials of their surviving family and friends.   It's a very interesting watch but I definately can't recommend it for everyone.  It's not trying to be preachy about mental health or anything like that, It's matter of fact in it's presentation and careful with the subject matter without glorifying suicide. 

[TeamRAD]

I watched "The Glimmer Man" which is really weird.

Someone's getting ready for this week's HDTGM!



There isn't anything in the movie that suggests Seagal moves within the shadows, and then appearing as a glimmer. I'm pretty anxious to listen to their clowning around w/ this turd.

[Johnny Unusual]

Blue Velvet

A surprisingly accessible film from David Lynch.  Which is not to say it is for everyone, certainly, but in terms of structure, there's no major left turn or a part where the regular story conventions are eschewed.  It's mostly very, very good with a few scenes that don't quite work (I know that Lynch isn't afraid to use a certain kind of melodramatic language from time to time, but there are a couple lines and moments that come across as flat).  But that said, it's also one of the most tense movies I've ever seen.  Lynch really knows how to play tension and discomfort in an exciting way.  And of course, this is probably Dennis Hopper's best role.  It must be hard to take such a scenery-chewing character and make him genuinely frightening, but Hopper makes it work.  Dean Stockwell also does a lot with a little in this film, making me wish I could see him in more strange character roles like this one.

Watching this, I realize that Kyle McLaughlin falls into the same camp as Dave Foley: someone who was clearly supposed to become a huge star, but somehow something went wrong.  He went from Agent Dale Cooper to Cliff Vandercave in the Flintstones.  Oy.