**Rerun's Movie Reviews**

[CebuShan]

Journey 2 is very family friendly. I sat through it 4 times in the 2 weekends I did the check. I don't remember any giant arachnids! There were some exciting parts but nothing really scary. There were all age groups that came to see it. The theater that it played in here had one showing in 2D and the rest in 3D. Check with your local theater to see if they do the same. Definitely cheaper!

[Poppylicious]

Oh, boooooooo!  We're not getting The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel over here until May!  Boooooooo!

I dragged Blokey along to see it today.  He grumbled (and said I had to go and see a film of his choice next) but I think he secretly enjoyed it.  It was very gentle (slow-paced), a little bit sad, occasionally funny and very English.  I think you'll like it.

 

[cariad]

Thanks for the replies to my enquiry, everyone. We wound up seeing Hugo since I had heard good things and G heard from his friend in Detroit that his kids, 5 and 8, saw it and were spellbound. I adore Sascha Baron-Cohen and he was good in this, and actually so was everyone else, but as little Liot said "I was enjoying it at the beginning, but I am SO glad it is over!" I think it was an adult telling of a children's story, meaning that it lingered over beautifully rendered scenery and really took its time with everything. It was about 30 minutes too long for him, he does not have his brother's attention span. (Aidan watched the first Narnia film when he was 3 and he was absolutely captivated, so it is not just about age difference, Aidan is legendary for his focus.) I would recommend it unreservedly for less distractable kids and adults who would appreciate the grandeur of it all. I am not one to get sentimental about the dawn of cinema, so even I was a bit restless in places. We all agreed that Liot bears a striking resemblance to the boy who played Hugo.

Oh, and it WAS in 3D, so that was an extra 10$ that we had to pay for the four of us and none of us could figure out why anyone would make that film in 3D. Like so many other films I've seen in 3D, there were one or two moments where the 3D added a neat extra something to the movie, but beyond that, it was a waste. There is something about 3D that makes horizontal action (a child running across the screen through a train station, for example) really difficult to watch. And this was easily one quarter of the picture, theses running scenes where you could only focus on the person moving and everything else was a bit blurred. I would suggest trying to find a place showing the film without 3D. Apparently, I do not have much company in my opinion as the theatre was packed and this film has been out for months and months.

CebuShan, I saw the trailer for Journey 2 and had to look away. Perhaps they decided not to include that bit in the film? Four times! I should think if anyone would know, you would. I had read one review that it appealed to adolescent boys because it was non-stop action and featured girls in tight T-shirts. Both my boys are too young to appreciate that (thankfully!). Would you say that's accurate? Gwyn and I got Transformers 2 from the library to watch with our older boy and I thought I would drop dead of embarrassment. Oh, that film was just so, so awful.

Thanks again for the info!

[galvo]

Saw CONTRABAND to-day. I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a good action thriller with lots of violence. Most enjoyable. I like Marky Wahlberg.

[MooseMom]

Well, as you all know, it's awards season, and I try to watch as many nominated films/performances as possible during the run up to the Oscars.  Tonight, my husband and I had the most wonderful evening viewing most of the nominated films in the Best Live Short and the Best Animated Short categories.

If you have Comcast OnDemand, you can find these films grouped together in the Oscar Nominated section of Movies.

The films nominated in these categories don't usually make it to the big screens out here in the 'burbs, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to watch them in the comfort of my own house.

If you are interested in animation, there was one short film in particular that was probably the loveliest thing I've ever seen.  It's called  "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore."  There have been only two times in my life that sheer beauty has made me cry, and tonight was one of them.  If you get the chance, have a look at it.  If you have Comcast OnDemand, for $7.99 you can see this short film along with 4 others.  It's worth the investment.

If you DO see it, please come back and post about what you thought.  I'm dying to find someone else out there who has seen this.

Here's a link to a 15 second clip...

http://morrislessmore.com/?p=film

[kristina]

I wonder if it would be interesting to watch the film “North and South”,
describing the lives of two families in the Civil War,
one from South Carolina and the other from Pennsylvania ?

I wonder if it is a soap-film
or whether it has been put together very precisely with historical data ?
Is it factual or has it been distorted for political purposes?

Has anyone seen it and is it worth watching ?

Thanks from Kristina.

[cariad]

I was told to watch Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room for class, so I did off Amazon Prime Instant View.

I have rarely met a documentary I didn't like, but I purposely avoided this one because I find the subject matter infuriating. This will make you want to punch something, it will make you glad that Georgie Bush jr left office in disgrace, labeled as one of the worst presidents in history. Is there an act of evil that Dick Cheney has not committed in the name of money and/or political power? (And don't say murder. You so know there's loads of war-profiteering blood on his hands.) 

Anyhow, now I am depressed, ticked off, and more determined than ever to get away from this country that will tolerate any disgusting behaviour you engage in so long as you have billions of dollars.

[cariad]

G and I also watched The Trip. This could have been hilarious, but I found it more sad than funny. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon basically play themselves and they go on a road trip as part of a magazine gig. To its credit, the film did not engage in empty, stagey humour. It had quite a meandering pace, and Steve Coogan was actually rather a tragic figure which was odd. The scenes were mostly grey since they were going through the north of England, and when I mentioned that that was part of what made the film feel melancholy, Gwyn responded "but that weather was so nice". Sigh.

Both Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan can do a pitch perfect Michael Cain. I could not choose between them. Neither one can do a convincing Woody Allen, in fact they seemed to struggle with Americans in general. Rob Brydon had the physicality of Al Pacino down, but not so much the voice. Heard Rob Brydon's parlor trick Man in a Box voice for the first time - for reasons that were never made clear, that voice is American as well. It wasn't a bad film, but I felt that even knowing a bit about their work, a lot of what they were talking about when past us both because we do not watch British television nor know much about either of their careers. There were many impressions, and rarely did they explain who they were doing.

[Rerun]

I thought the Enron documentary was a real eye opener.  I don't remember the connection with George Bush and Dick Cheney.  Is that just the usual blame game from Democrats?

If I remember right it was Ken Lay and Jeff (someone) who were lying and having the power companies to have brown outs where there was plenty of power to make California 'think' there was not enough power so they were charged more.  Enron went bankrupt in December of 2001 and George was dealing with 9/11 at that time.  Only president for 9 months.

Explain this to me because I would really like to understand.

[cariad]

I thought the Enron documentary was a real eye opener.  I don't remember the connection with George Bush and Dick Cheney.  Is that just the usual blame game from Democrats?

I am going to try and keep this just about the film since I don't want to start this political discussion here in your movie review thread. If you do not remember the connection to the Bush administration then I would say it's been a long time since you've seen the film. You don't remember the video birthday card from Bush to Ken Lay (shot in the Oval Office I believe)? You don't remember that Enron was one of the largest, if not the largest, single contributors to Bush's campaign coffers? You don't remember Bush Sr (who was also president at one point) saying on film "Oh, Ken, you've been so good to this family" or similar? Was that not beyond chilling? Remember discussion of Ken Lay being energy secretary and influencing energy policy?

If I remember right it was Ken Lay and Jeff (someone) who were lying and having the power companies to have brown outs where there was plenty of power to make California 'think' there was not enough power so they were charged more.  Enron went bankrupt in December of 2001 and George was dealing with 9/11 at that time.  Only president for 9 months.

Explain this to me because I would really like to understand.

Apparently you don't really need a lot of time to destroy thousands of lives, or even millions. You just need political power and money. You can destroy an entire country's economy in under 8 years by handing it over to selfish, juvenile, unconscionable Wall Street raiders. The film was made in 2005, shame because if they had just waited 2 years we would have understood this as a canary in the coal mine. 

The short answer to your question is deregulation and cover up. Yes, you remember correctly that they were manipulating the power supply in order to make more millions, and to get what they wanted: Gray Davis recalled and to make it look like the government was so incompetent that the only solution was more and more deregulation. It was all a lie, and Bush and especially Cheney absolutely knew this. What was not mentioned in the film was that Dick Cheney later invoked executive privilege to slime his way out of disclosing what he knew. Executive privilege?? He was not the President!! Additionally, why would you need any legal out from testifying if you had nothing to hide?

Bush was governor of Texas before becoming president - and where was Enron located? 

If you really want to understand this more fully, google is a powerful tool, or watch the film again. Dick Cheney is only in it for a few moments, saying that the White House cannot manufacture power that isn't there. That was never the problem, but it served his political ends to parrot that. And he was totally evil enough to do it, while people in California were being robbed blind. What if someone were doing home dialysis and could not pay their power bill? California heat kills - every time there was a power outage in California when I lived there, you would hear the death toll.

What I would really like to understand, Rerun, is how people like you can support the Republican party. I would google it if I could. Please don't take offense at this as I'm going to be blunt, but you are almost as worthless to them as I am. If they could make any kind of money or gain any power by letting us both die bankrupt and homeless, they would not hesitate. Look at how they were cheering the burning of a power plant in that film. Were lives lost? Definitely many innocent lives were destroyed (and a few, too few, not at all innocent) by what was allowed to happen at Enron - deregulating and securitizing something that once had strict price controls, then manipulating prices as they did. I do have a dear friend who is Republican and an economist, so I know that they are not all like that.

Here's a conspiracy theory that I notice the right has never picked up: Ken Lay died suddenly before he could be imprisoned. Where are the pictures of the body??

Anyhow, we discuss the film tonight.

[cattlekid]

Good question.  I read the books that the movie was based upon.  The books were historical fiction, the families were fictional but their surroundings and events going on in their lives were factual.  If I recall correctly, the movie version was more "soapy" than the books.  I would recommend the books highly - the author is John Jakes.

I wonder if it would be interesting to watch the film “North and South”,
describing the lives of two families in the Civil War,
one from South Carolina and the other from Pennsylvania ?

I wonder if it is a soap-film
or whether it has been put together very precisely with historical data ?
Is it factual or has it been distorted for political purposes?

Has anyone seen it and is it worth watching ?

Thanks from Kristina.

[CebuShan]

Wasn't "North and South" a "miniseries? I really like John Jakes books, especially "The Kent Family Chronicles".

[Rerun]

Caraid, thanks and I don't take offence.  I think I'm a wanna be Republican living in a Liberal body.  I'd love to be healthy and never needing social security and medicare.  Making huge amounts of money. 

Thanks.  Now I understand.  I may get it again.   

[cariad]

Caraid, thanks and I don't take offence.  I think I'm a wanna be Republican living in a Liberal body.  I'd love to be healthy and never needing social security and medicare.  Making huge amounts of money. 

I think we're all wannabe Republicans by this definition!

(I believe you can catch the whole film on YouTube if you're interested.)

[kristina]

Good question.  I read the books that the movie was based upon.  The books were historical fiction, the families were fictional but their surroundings and events going on in their lives were factual.  If I recall correctly, the movie version was more "soapy" than the books.  I would recommend the books highly - the author is John Jakes.

I wonder if it would be interesting to watch the film “North and South”,
describing the lives of two families in the Civil War,
one from South Carolina and the other from Pennsylvania ?

I wonder if it is a soap-film
or whether it has been put together very precisely with historical data ?
Is it factual or has it been distorted for political purposes?

Has anyone seen it and is it worth watching ?

Thanks from Kristina.

Thank you, cattlekid for your information about “North and South”.

I was debating with myself whether I should see the video
and thanks for recommending the books.
I am glad to learn that John Jakes describes the events factually.
Thanks again.

Wasn't "North and South" a "miniseries? I really like John Jakes books, especially "The Kent Family Chronicles".

CebuShan, I don’t know whether it was a miniseries.

Thanks again from Kristina.

[Poppylicious]

I went to the cinema on my own yesterday for the first time ever.  It wasn't so bad.  I saw The Hunger Games and although I loved it, I love the book much more. The book is so very psychological and emotional and gory, and it didn't translate well onto film, particularly when the film is only a 12A (not sure of American equivalent ... PG13?). If they'd been a bit more daring and made it a slightly more adult film (a 12 or 15 ... again, not sure of American equivs) I think it had the potential to be amazing.  As it stood, you really had to have read the book to truly understand everything which occured.  What did surprise me was the lack of females at the showing ... the boys outdid the girls by at least three to one. 

 

[galvo]

Wow, pops! You're a game 'un! I, also, went to the cinema on my own yesterday, but not for the first time. Guess what I saw. Yep. THE HUNGER GAMES . I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd never heard of the books. Plenty of young sheilas at the showing. Last week saw THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL and adored it, even though it reinforced my thoughts on how little time I have left.

[MaryD]

I want to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel next week.  What an awesome cast!

[cariad]

As usual, I'm here with reviews of kids films. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? The Artist? A Separation? I can only dream of getting to see such films.

We used one of Gwyn's free Fandango certificates to see The Lorax in California. We gave The Lorax (book) to our British niece for her fifth birthday once-upon-a-time. I hope it gave her an appreciation for Dr. Seuss - he really was marvelous. Anyhow, I doubt she ever came to view the book as Americans do, as semi-holy. My mother has a friend who has never read The Lorax and she adored the film. I thought it was OK, not true to the book, though not that big a departure. It seemed paced all wrong. I did not like Danny DeVito as The Lorax, his voice was just wrong somehow, too campy, too famous as the voice of the meanest taxi dispatcher on earth. It was not a long film, yet my kids did seem to get bored with it before it was over. I don't like revisiting my childhood, so in that way it was great that it was not too familiar. The person who voiced The Onceler was lovely in the role.

OK, moving on to Hop. My boys have wanted to see this since last year. I bought it on AmazonPrime.They seemed to love it, they thought it was quite funny. I thought it was poorly acted and completely bizarre. I am not sure who these adults on Amazon are who gave it such glowing reviews. Odd.

I also bought them The Muppets (the recent film). First, I had them watch The Muppet Movie on YouTube because they honestly had no idea who these characters are. Perhaps my brain is just softening and decaying from all the exposure to kiddie crap, but I thought this film was very clever. It had a lot of self-referential humor, a lot of honest humor about how The Muppets are really passe (cannot get accent over e!). And, sorry, but the where-are-they-now segments, especially the one with Animal, were wonderful even if most of us have long outgrown our Muppet interest.

Oh, there was one more, a little documentary on Kevin Clash called Being Elmo. I have to admit I have a fascination with Kevin Clash - probably one of the wealthiest, most famous men in the country, and no one really knew what he looked like or who he was until recently. People (myself included) are generally surprised when they learn he is black. He really seemed like an amazing kid who knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life and worked at it until he got there. My younger son was obsessed with Elmo until he was almost four, so Elmo holds a special place in my memory. Also, Kevin Clash does the voice for one of my favourite Sesame Street characters, Hoots the owl. That voice is precious!

OK, parents of small children. You're welcome!

[Poppylicious]

Wow, pops! You're a game 'un! I, also, went to the cinema on my own yesterday, but not for the first time. Guess what I saw. Yep. THE HUNGER GAMES . I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd never heard of the books. Plenty of young sheilas at the showing. Last week saw THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL and adored it, even though it reinforced my thoughts on how little time I have left.

One day galvo, we shall have to go to the cinema together.

 

[MooseMom]

We went to see John Carter, and it was OK.  I read the entire series when I was about 13 and still have those books (my father loved fantasy and got me to read all that stuff), so when I heard they were making a movie of it, I was thrilled.  But by the time we got to see it, I'd heard how it had become the biggest financially disastrous movie in history, and I couldn't get that out of my mind while watching it.  I felt so sorry for the cast and crew!  LOL!

I loved Taylor Kitsch in FNL, and I saw him interviewed on one of the late night shows a few weeks back.  He's sooo different from his FNL character!  But I have to say that his John Carter was an awful lot like his Tim Riggins.  But to be fair, even in the book, the story wasn't so much about John Carter as it was about the inhabitants of Mars.

I think the rest of the cast just changed out of their Rome costumes...the cast seemed to be pretty much the same in JC as it was in Rome!  That was odd.

[galvo]

You're on, popsie!

[Poppylicious]

Saw Titanic 3D with my MiL.  Without wanting to spoil it for anyone, 3D doesn't stop the ship sinking.  Oh, and I didn't cry.  Really, I didn't.

[CebuShan]

I loved Taylor Kitsch in FNL,

What is FNL? The only other thing I've seen Taylor Kitsch in was "The Covenant" One of my favorite movies.

[MooseMom]

FNL = "Friday Night Lights", the TV series based upon the book about high school football in a small Texas town.  Very, very critically acclaimed and worth watching if you can find it.  It ran for several seasons and ended just a year or so ago.  I'd guess you could find it on Netflix, perhaps.  I don't think I've seen it in syndication.