list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

^ I have also come to the conclusion that Sigourney's face expression in that shot is the perfect representatin of our PA "stern smile" emoticon: .

;)

I think that's as wide as she can do. 

You could also see her as a myopic person concentrating to see something very small.

BTW... Are you also looking forward to Prometheus?

The Ghost Writer

Utterly gripping suspense thriller with Ewan McGregor as a writer hired to turn an ex-politician's memoir into a proper book and slowly begins to learn a scandalous truth about him.   Strongly in a Hitchcock vein, the film painstakingly unfolds with subtle detail creating a deep sense of tension and drama.   One of the best movies of 2010.

In the past 3 days I've seen six films. Here are my feelings.

Been starring at this thread for the last hour, wanting to write some, but not sure I should. Just like that, I'm in the mood to watch serious movies lately, but I am not sure what to make of it or how far I'll go on with it.

There would be four movies, seen in the past three days, to adress, but I wouldn't want to put too much into having seen Breakfast at Tiffany's (for the first time). • I haven't read Capote's book (although I am fairly into Capote already, with three or four other novels - I don't know why, but I feel it would be like reading French Lieutenant's Woman compared to Fowles' other books...), but I know he didn't approve of much of the adaptation.

Watching this movie was a much more silly experience than I even anticipated it would be. • Audrey was overall lovely, apart from a few superficial or poorly-mimicked scenes (like the bad nightmare). However, I may feel like lauding Patricia Neal's short parts even more. I don't know what to make of the Japanese at all, except for alligning myself with the usual criticism of stereotyping or racism. If it was meant to be comic relief, I got no laughs out of it. • I liked the party scene and the Tiffany (inside) scene. Yes, iconic film intro, whatever. I didn't like the ending, pff romance (in the rain). Also, that is one doped cat.

I'd give it 6/10, with the slight fear that I'm underestimating it. I also have little context to put it in. I may not be a Golden Hollywood Age fan. But I do find that The Apartment, for instance, was way better.

***

Eric Rohmer's La Collectionneuse - Not the first time I'm seeing this (thanks Cinemax), but it'll likely be part of a Rohmer walkthrough. Which, apparently, I've already messed up, since this is just his theatrical debut and the 4th of his Contes moraux. • Many Rohmerian elements put forth from the beginning, a mix of philosophizing and takes of solitude (detachement) and courtship (romance). Nothing too deep, however, in that sense. And I should downgrade it even more because of the acting, which I find to be amateurish - or at least there's a discrepancy between characters (how they're formed) and acting (how they manifest). • And yet, I sense a bit of biase towards Rohmer in me. And it's certainly one of his movies to take note of, since his better ones will already measure in brilliance. 7/10

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(Whoever-it-is') Brick (which Deathrabbit recommended me) - Overtly pretentious hardboiled detective movie/story (homage), carving out of a couple of students highly intelligent, street smart, puzzle solving or plain conniving profiles (oh, and a guy that's just 200kg of muscles). Pretentious fast-pace dialogue, too, definitely losing me in certain places. • I was more into tagging along with the main character than in the story unravelling itself - which, btw, started interesting me less and less as it progressed (along with some predictable stuff). • A few cuts & effects that are off for me, otherwise the cinematography has some good points. • (The intro had a jangly, garbage tune superimposed, making me think if this were an European film, the approach would be purer, just the sounds we get from the environment. But then, after a series of flashbacks, the scene is repeated, this time without the music, and I'm all thinking "why the hell didn't you create suspense out of this the first time!?"). 6/10

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(Don'-matter-who's) Cowboys and Aliens [okay, I said serious movies, but this fell into my usual "for half-white nights" category]. This was reasonably panned at first, after which it was slightly pushed back up, being said it's a fair summer blockbuster (which, btw, I didn't see it back then because I ain't going to no cinema and pay no 8$ to see anything) and not that offensive. That being said, I am officially disappointed in the second lot. This progressed steadily into a cringeworthy second half. • The aliens looked like crap. • Ford is an acting corpse. And damn you Dano, get back to serious movies! 2/10

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Oh Lord, I am making no sense.

Edited by Ricochet - December 03 2011 at 07:45

 ^ I haven't watched anything, and unfortunately haven't seen any of the ones you mention except Tiffany's; good flick representative of that ridiculous fantasy/romp period in the '60s but not much more

JCVD

Nearly unwatchable farce with Jean-Caude Van Damme playing himself as he struggles to make action films at forty-seven, keep custody of his daughter, and somehow manage to rob a bank in Brussels.  Van Damme is decent in the role and the movie a fairly original semi-memoir, but it's so garbled and incongruous that the feeling of wasted time permeates every moment.  Only recommended in the event of an entertainment emergency.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Really liked it. Haven't read the book nor watched the Alec Guinness series, mind (though I have read Spy Who Came In From the Cold, so somewhat familiar with John le Carre).

Ricochet wrote: Roy Hill's The Sting - I don't even

yeah, dull and incomprehensible, I had the displeasure of having to sit through it in theater when I was eight







Edited by Atavachron - January 07 2012 at 21:56

Hanna

Stylish little actioner about a young girl trained by her father to avenge her mother's death.  Reminiscent of Wim Wenders' Alice in the Cities - and by association Alice in Wonderland - and with a touch of Jason Bourne, though somewhat polluted by an unlikely plot as we follow young Hanna in her discovery of the world outside her forest home and the trail of needlessly murdered innocents in her wake.  A strangely cold flick that, if better edited, could've held together as a real story instead of just a dark fantasy.