The "last movie I saw" thread

[Color Me Badd Fan]

"American Splendor". I liked it. I had no knowledge of the comic book series prior to the film, but the way they told the story was quite creative. I especially appreciated the secondary roles for James Urbaniak and Judah Friedlander.

For anyone that hasn't seen it, I highly recommend American Splendor. It has Paul Giamatti's best performance of his career and I think that's saying at least a little something.

"Revenge of the Neeeyerrrds."

[Bastage]

Deliverance is on Spike right this very second. For some reason I end up watching this everytime it's on TV.

[Viking]

For some reason the checkout guy at Trader Joe's felt the need to tell me that he had recently seen this film, and that he thought I would really like it.

it's basically the fusion of the JS story and Mormon. Sort of how Avatar is really the story of Pocahontas with the names changed. Avoid at all costs

[Green Lantern]

I just watched a couple of films at the Sundance Film Festival yesterday. One was an animated shorts collection. They're always fun because they include such a wide range of material. Last night was no different. There were some comic shorts, some emotionally powerful ones and a couple that were just completely bizarre.

The other was called WINTER'S BONE. I'm glad to hear this one got picked up by a distributor because it was excellent. It's about a 17 year old girl in the Ozarks who has to confront a bunch of scary meth-cooking relatives in the search for her bail-skipping father. Excellent performances, excellent direction and entirely engrossing. Watch out for it when it finally makes the rounds to theaters.

[Coach McGuirk]

I streamed The Proposition(2005) from Netflix last night. I am a sucker for westerns and Guy Pearce, so that got me interested. Then I noticed Nick Cave wrote the screenplay, Interesting.

Very good film with great performances by Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, and John Hurt. It is brutally violent film that seems will stick with me for some time. I want to watch it again.

4.5 out of 5 - Best western since Unforgiven IMO.

[Green Lantern]

I streamed The Proposition(2005) from Netflix last night. I am a sucker for westerns and Guy Pearce, so that got me interested. Then I noticed Nick Cave wrote the screenplay, Interesting.

Very good film with great performances by Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, and John Hurt. It is brutally violent film that seems will stick with me for some time. I want to watch it again.

4.5 out of 5 - Best western since Unforgiven IMO.

Also, that movie felt very much like a Cormac McCarthy western, which is why I got excited when the director took on THE ROAD as his next project.

[Coach McGuirk]

Also, that movie felt very much like a Cormac McCarthy western, which is why I got excited when the director took on THE ROAD as his next project.

I would agree with that. I should have paid more attention to who was the director. Did you get to see The Road? Was it as bad as rumored, or just impossible to live up to expectations?

[Green Lantern]

I still haven't seen it, but a few fellow McCarthy fans I trust have told me that the movie is a worthy adaptation, although not nearly as good as the book.

[Coach McGuirk]

...the movie is a worthy adaptation, although not nearly as good as the book.

Almost always the case, isn't it.

[Green Lantern]

Almost always the case, isn't it.

Yeah, good point. It's probably a pretty short list of movies that are markedly better than the books upon which they're based.

[MarkGrace]

Saw I Love You, Beth Cooper.

That sure was good.

[MarkGrace]

Also saw It Might Get Loud, but I thought we had a thread for that one? Can't find it.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it and thought it provided some fascinating insight into the lives of these musicians. I never give The Edge enough credit because of the band he is in, but the guy is pretty awesome. His technology obsessed approach to music serves as the counterpoint to White's anti-tech approach (that first scene where he attaches a string to a coke bottle and board and then plugs it into an amp was just awesome), and it was interesting to see them coming at the guitar from such different angles.

I tend to be more fascinated with the tech-geek approach, and thought it was cool when The Edge shut down all the effects to show what one of his riffs sounded like without it. His comment about Spinal Tap had me rolling, and gave me a greater appreciation for U2, since I tend to agree with what they were trying to do in the post-punk era (ie. trying to leave 70s excess behind). White is also a fascinating character, and I keep waiting for the day when I totally fall in love with his music. So far it hasn't happened, but I do like his stuff a great deal. Listening to him talk about his favorite song of all time was especially insightful. It's this old blues songs that is just hand claps to provide the time and this guy singing over it. White claims that every time he makes a song, he's just trying to recreate the simplicity and conviction captured in that track.

Also cool to see some old Page footage from the Yardbirds, his sessions days, and his tour of the house where they recorded IV. And of course it was cool to see all them jam together, especially that slide guitar bit.

[OhioBlue]

I watched 'Sunshine Cleaning' yesterday. Came out in 2008 I believe. The plot is described thusly: "In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister."

It's more drama than comedy, and really gets into the relationships and how the characters deal with adversity. The crime scene cleaning is just the vehicle. All in all I quite liked it and it made an impression on me. I'd give it about an 8 out of 10.

[Bastage]

Saw Edge of Darkness over the weekend. I thought it was entertaining, but it needed something more for me to give it a full endorsement. Definitely worth seeing Friday afternoon during work.

I don't know how to put the spoiler button on my post so I won't say anything else about the movie. Has anyone else seen it yet?

[Commando]

Went to Sundance and saw "Cyrus" starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, and Jonah Hill. Absolutely hysterical. Funniest movie I've seen in a looong time.