The "last movie I saw" thread

[MarkGrace]

First Position

Documentary on instant stream about these kids competing to get into top ballet schools and companies.

[Jeff Lebowski]

We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Deeply disturbing. Not sure what I think of it yet. Story is told in a non-linear fashion where it keeps jumping back and forth between various points of time. Kind of odd but it works.

[MarkGrace]

We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Deeply disturbing. Not sure what I think of it yet. Story is told in a non-linear fashion where it keeps jumping back and forth between various points of time. Kind of odd but it works.

Dang I've been meaning to see that forever.

Jonny Greenwood did the score and I've been wanting to hear it.

[Surfah]

Saw Chronicle. Not sure I'd like the found footage format for this film but it worked. I had low expectations expecting it to be a cheesy superhero flick but it surprised me and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Besides it has Vince Howard in it.

[MarkGrace]

Gosh another one I've been meaning to see! Too many movies.

[CardiacCoug]

Saw Chronicle. Not sure I'd like the found footage format for this film but it worked. I had low expectations expecting it to be a cheesy superhero flick but it surprised me and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Besides it has Vince Howard in it.

Yeah I thought it was pretty good too. I dragged my wife to the theater for it and she was not impressed, however.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Saw Chronicle. Not sure I'd like the found footage format for this film but it worked. I had low expectations expecting it to be a cheesy superhero flick but it surprised me and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Besides it has Vince Howard in it.

We discussed this a fair amount. Great concept, but I felt that they kind of blew it with the script. Could have been so much better.

[Surfah]

We discussed this a fair amount. Great concept, but I felt that they kind of blew it with the script. Could have been so much better.

I'll agree with you there. I don't think it realized its full potential either. Weird too because it seemed relatively short so they had time to explore and flesh out a few more things.

I just read they're making a sequel but the studio isn't happy with the script. So that makes me wonder if something similar happened with this one.

[MarkGrace]

Flight

The good:
- The opening scene
- The plane sequences were incredible
- Denzel

The bad:
- Played way too melodramatic instead of just dramatic
- Denzel's relationship with the chick was really forced, unnatural and unnecessary; there was just no chemistry there

I think the story would have improved quite considerably without the relationship. I thought the storyline about the case/investigation could have been pretty interesting, as could have the redemption as a father story. But they wasted too much time with an uninteresting love story that should have been devoted elsewhere.

[MarkGrace]

Saw Django last night. Very entertaining.

[Northwestcoug]

The wife and I saw The Impossible last night, starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as the parents of a family who were hit by the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. A stunning movie but also one of the hardest-to-watch films I've ever seen. It is absolutely emotionally grueling yet has a very humanitarian outlook. I'll share some more thoughts later but the short version is: Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart.

After watching the trailer, this looks like a movie I may not have the stomach for. I don't do well with shows like this.

We took the family to see this over the weekend. I have become a softie in my middle season of life, so it was difficult for me to watch. I think it's impossible to watch this without tearing up, if you have children.

It was interesting to see various reactions. My 17 year-old daughter was freely sobbing. I'm not sure about my 14 year-old, but she said she enjoyed it. The first reaction from my son was, 'hey, that's Obi Wan Kenobi!'. And my 9 year-old daughter sat through it all, and asked some appropriate questions, but didn't seem too fazed. My wife gets a little ill when she cries, so she didn't like that, but thought the movie was good.

The cinematography was excellent. I thought there were a few weak/cheesy parts of dialogue, but they were cancelled by the sheer emotion of the story. I liked how the movie emphasized the common humanity in us all. It was interesting to find out that the real family was Spanish. I wondered why they couldn't have done the movie with Spanish actors. But you're just not going to get the same draw without some bigger name recognition.

I'm glad I saw it, and that we took our kids. If you're thinking of taking children, there is some brief non-sexual nudity of the female kind. But don't let that be a deal breaker. The subject matter may be a little too much for younger ones though.

[Northwestcoug]

Flight

The good:
- The opening scene
- The plane sequences were incredible
- Denzel

The bad:
- Played way too melodramatic instead of just dramatic
- Denzel's relationship with the chick was really forced, unnatural and unnecessary; there was just no chemistry there

I think the story would have improved quite considerably without the relationship. I thought the storyline about the case/investigation could have been pretty interesting, as could have the redemption as a father story. But they wasted too much time with an uninteresting love story that should have been devoted elsewhere.

Spoiler for Plot detail:

The formal investigation scene is what damaged the movie for me. The movie played his jerkiness up for so long. But then to have him turn on a dime and confess everything at the investigation seemed way too forced. It was an average film, but I'm more mad at the lost potential. Could have been much better.

And what's with him doing jail time? The investigation concluded that he saved lives, and he was heroic by any standard. What was the jailable offense?

[RC Vikings]

Flight

The good:
- The opening scene

This we can agree on.

[MarkGrace]

Spoiler for Plot detail:

The formal investigation scene is what damaged the movie for me. The movie played his jerkiness up for so long. But then to have him turn on a dime and confess everything at the investigation seemed way too forced. It was an average film, but I'm more mad at the lost potential. Could have been much better.

And what's with him doing jail time? The investigation concluded that he saved lives, and he was heroic by any standard. What was the jailable offense?

Spoiler for A thought:

Well, I think there's another way to read that scene. The central question to the crash, as PAC mentioned above, is did being high/sober allow him to make decisions he would have otherwise not been able to make? Now you put him in those same circumstances (high/drunk) at the investigation, and return to the central question: did it embolden him to take a course of action he otherwise wouldn't have pursued? I think it was a bit more layered than just saying he turned on a dime.

The thing I was more confused on was the film's position on God. There were all these several overt references to God, but I'm not sure what was being said. Was it simply that God puts people in the right place at the right time to fulfill their destinies and He is in control? Or was it that despite those unexplained acts of God, our decisions still ultimately control our outcomes?

[Donuthole]

Spoiler for A thought:

Well, I think there's another way to read that scene. The central question to the crash, as PAC mentioned above, is did being high/sober allow him to make decisions he would have otherwise not been able to make? Now you put him in those same circumstances (high/drunk) at the investigation, and return to the central question: did it embolden him to take a course of action he otherwise wouldn't have pursued? I think it was a bit more layered than just saying he turned on a dime.

The thing I was more confused on was the film's position on God. There were all these several overt references to God, but I'm not sure what was being said. Was it simply that God puts people in the right place at the right time to fulfill their destinies and He is in control? Or was it that despite those unexplained acts of God, our decisions still ultimately control our outcomes?

I took it as the latter, FWIW.